Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In response to your question the Department's total expenditure for the months of January to June from 2018 to 2023 for agency and consulting spend is set out per the table attached.

It is the policy of my Department only to engage the services of external consultants and agency staff 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 Department also has managed service contracts for Cleaning, Security, Canteen and IT helpdesk. The costs associated with these contracts are not included in the attached table as these would fall outside the scope of the question which related to agency and consultancy.

In relation to the amount spent by the HSE I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy.

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact myself or the Department.

The figures in the table below relate solely to the Department and exclude HSE expenditure which we have asked the HSE to respond on separately.