Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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111. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total amount of consultancy fees incurred by his Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [41786/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department considers engaging consultancy services in cases where there is not the necessary expertise to deliver a project 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, NDP Delivery and Reform's guidelines for engagements of consultants by the civil service, having regard to public procurement guidelines.

The amount spent by my Department on consultancies; which includes reports, surveys, and audit services paid under my Department’s AD7 Consultancy Budget, from 2014 to 2024 (to date) is set out below. Costs associated with ICT consultancy services are also included in the table.