Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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297. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 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. [54321/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the information requested, in relation to the number of external consultancy contracts entered into by my Department in the past five years, is set out in the attached table.

My Department seeks to minimise the use of consultants and only engages consultancy companies when particular additional expertise is required for delivery of the services which support the business processes of the Department. Such services are used in areas where the Department does not have the necessary expertise or internal capacity to deliver the services and where it would not make practical, operational or economic sense to build up this capability within the Department.

Some engagements are necessary to satisfy auditing and EU regulatory requirements as to independent review. All contracts are negotiated with a view to achieving best value for money and keeping expenditure to a minimum.