Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reports or services that have been commissioned by his Department from consultants since 2016 to date; the awardee of the contract; the cost of the contract; the publication date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26774/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Department seeks to minimise the use of consultants and only engages consultancy companies when particular additional expertise is required for delivery of the services which support the business processes of the Department. Such services are used in areas where the Department does not have the necessary expertise or internal capacity to deliver the services and where it would not make practical, operational or economic sense to build up this capability within the Department.

Some engagements are necessary to satisfy auditing and EU regulatory requirements as to independent review. All contracts are negotiated with a view to achieving best value for money.

The information requested is set out in the attached table.