Written answers
Thursday, 9 October 2025
Department of Finance
Departmental Contracts
Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of external consultancy contracts entered into by his Department in the past five years, including the original estimated cost, the final cost, and the reasoning for contracting this work rather than using internal resources. [54326/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy of the following completed external consultancy contracts, that have been entered into by the Department of Finance where the final cost is known. My department endeavours to use internal resources insofar as possible however there are instances where external resources are required. My department complies with EU and Irish regulations and guidelines in the procuring of these.
Outside of the following list my department may use the services of other publicly funded bodies. Per Department of Finance Circular 40/02 my department makes a return to the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of these contracts where they meet the relevant threshold and criteria.
| Year | Company | Original Estimated Cost (excl. VAT) | Final Cost (excl. VAT) | Reason for contracting external consultants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Company | Original Estimated Cost (excl. VAT) | Final Cost (excl. VAT) | Reason for contracting external consultants |
| 2020 | Behaviour & Attitudes | €225,200.00 | Nil cost to the Department* | External, independent expertise was required to carry out Credit Demand Surveys |
| 2020 | Medmark Ltd | €375.00 | €375.00 | Occupational health assessment - Specialist expertise required |
| 2020 | KPMG | €20,000.00 | €20,000.00 | Independent benchmarking required for state aid purposes |
| 2020 | RSM | €24,750.00 | €24,750.00 | Specialised large scale liquidation/financial consultancy |
| 2020 | Rothchild & Co | Dependent on transaction | €2,430,084.31** | Capital markets specialist consultancy required |
| 2020 | William Fry | €234,157.98 | €234,157.98*** | External legal advice required |
| 2021 | ESRI | €170,370.00 | €170,370.00^ | External, independent expertise was required for Campaign to Raise Awareness and Promote Customer Switching of Financial Products |
| 2021 | KPMG | €30,000.00 | €30,000.00 | Independent benchmarking required for state aid purposes |
| 2022 | Mazars | €64,300.00 | €64,300.00 | Specialist expertise required for the Help to Buy Review |
| 2022 | Behaviour & Attitudes | €249,300.00 | Nil cost to the Department* | External, independent expertise was required to carry out Credit Demand Surveys and Consumer Sentiment Surveys |
| 2022 | Deloitte | € 96,800.00 | €96,800.00 | External, independent expertise was required for the Retail Banking Review Technical Paper - International Comparison |
| 2022 | SIA Partners (Pathfinder Execution Ltd) | €139,800.00 | €139,775.00 | IT solution to interconnect Irish registers of beneficial ownership to the central European portal (BORIS) |
| 2022 | BehaviourWise | €4,900.00 | €4,900.00 | Requirement for specialist focus group facilitation |
| 2022 | KPMG | €80,000.00 | €80,000.00 | Specialist funding landscape consultancy and assessment and analysis |
| 2022 | KPMG | €30,000.00 | €30,000.00 | Independent benchmarking required for state aid purposes |
| 2023 | Dr Donal de Buitléir | €13,680.00 | €13,680.00 | An external examination of the Standard Fund Threshold regime was required to reinforce the impartiality of the examination and its conclusions |
| 2023 | Specialisterne | €1,200.00 | €1,200.00 | Workplace Assessments for reasonable accommodations for staff - Specialist expertise required |
| 2023 | Gillian Harford Consulting | €3,000.00 | €3,000.00 | Workshop for Gender Equity Network Committee - Specialist expertise required |
| 2023 | Bernie Gray | €1,800.00 | €1,800.00 | Member of an interview board - Specialist expertise required |
| 2023 | SIA Partners (Pathfinder Execution Ltd) | €99,900.00 | €99,900.00 | IT solution to interconnect Irish registers of beneficial ownership to the central European portal (BORIS) |
| 2023 | KPMG | €30,000.00 | €30,000.00 | Independent benchmarking required for state aid purposes |
| 2024 | Indecon Economic Consultants | €105,325.00 | €105,325.00 | Independent expertise required |
| 2024 | Behaviour & Attitudes | €249,300.00 | Nil cost to the Department* | External, independent expertise was required to carry out Credit Demand Surveys and Consumer Sentiment Surveys |
| 2024 | OECD | €155,976.00 | €155,976.00^^ | External, independent expertise was required for the Development of a National Financial Literacy Strategy for Ireland |
| 2024 | Specialisterne | €2,950.00 | €2,950.00 | Workplace Assessments for reasonable accommodations for staff - Specialist expertise required |
| 2024 | Better Boards | €3,150.00 | €3,150.00 | External HR review - Specialist expertise required |
| 2024 | Gillian Harford Consulting | €750.00 | €750.00 | Workshop for Gender Equity Network Committee - Specialist expertise required |
| 2024 | Irish Centre for Diversity | €18,800.00 | €18,800.00 | EDI Survey, focus groups and development of EDI Strategy - Specialist expertise required |
| 2024 | KPMG | €8,500.00 | €8,500.00 | Requirement for specialist pensions expertise |
| 2025 | Bernie Gray | €1,800.00 | €1,800.00 | Member of an interview board - Specialist expertise required |
| 2025 | Specialisterne | €8,900.00 | €8,900.00 | Workplace Assessments and Job Coaching services - Specialist expertise required |
** Rothschild – Zero cost to the department. Invoice was paid by NTMA and €2,205,084 subsequently recouped from relevant banks. To note, the department entered a further contract in 2023 with this company. The National Treasury Management Agency has, and will, pay these costs and recoup from banks however the final cost of this contract is not known as it is ongoing.
*** William Fry - €175,987.98 of this amount is recoupable from relevant banks
^ The money spent on the ESRI contract was recouped from AIB and PTSB.
^^ The value of the OECD contract was split evenly between Department of Finance and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
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