Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

891. To ask the Minister for Health the cost of consultants to his Department in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022; and if he will provide an outline of the role of each. [18890/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department's total expenditure in the A7 subhead consultancy for the years requested since 2020 is as per the tables attached. Descriptions of the projects are alongside the spend on same. It is the policy in my Department only to engage the services of external consultants where highly specialised skills are not available within the Department and, in particular, when such an approach is felt to be more appropriate and cost-effective.

The attached tables outline the total amount spent on external consultants from 2020 to date. While some contacts are negotiated on the basis of a daily and hourly rate, others are paid a fee on the basis of reaching a number of milestones during the process and in some case producing a report