Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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101. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount paid by his Department in 2022 and to date in 2023 on outside or third-party reports of a technical nature or qualitative and quantitative nature, by payee, in tabular form. [34467/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department considers sourcing outside or third-party reports in cases where there is not the necessary expertise to deliver the report in-house, in cases where an external assessment is deemed essential, or in cases where a project must be completed within a short time scale, and although the expertise or experience may be available in-house, performing the task would involve a prohibitive opportunity cost.

My Department complies with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform's guidelines for engagements of consultants by the civil service, having regard to public procurement guidelines.

In 2022, my Department paid €589,299 to third-parties or consultancy firms for their services in preparing technical or qualitative and quantitative reports. The cost by payee is set out in tabular form below:

To date in 2023, my Department has paid €238,636 to third-parties or consultancy firms for their services in preparing technical or qualitative and quantitative reports. The cost by payee is set out in tabular form below: