Written answers
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Departmental Contracts
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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552. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide a list of all studies, research and reports commissioned by his Department that were outsourced, in each of the past five years, in tabular form; the names of the companies to which each study, research and report was outsourced; the total cost for each; the number of reports finalised and presented to him that have yet to be released by his Department; the dates on which any such reports yet to be released were first provided to him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55157/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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It should be noted that my Department was re-configured as the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport at the beginning of June 2025. The information sought by the Deputy for the past five years in respect of the current functions under the remit of my Department is specified in the table below.
| Year | Title of study/ research/ report | Contracted Company | Total Cost (incl. VAT) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Review and Analysis of ICT at the National Archives | Unity | €24,354 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister |
| 2020 | Report on the impact on the staff and the National Concert Hall of staff transferring from the RTÉ Pension Schemes to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme | Trident Consulting | €12,100 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister |
| 2020 | Interim Review of Creative Communities | M-CO | Part of a wider contract on ‘Policy and Advice and Research’. For 2020 M-CO was paid a total amount of €73,434 for all work under this wider contract in 2020. | Presented to the Minister and published in December 2020. |
| 2020 | Mohan, G., McCoy, S., Carroll, E., Mihut, G., Lyons, S., & Mac Domhnaill, C. (2020). ‘Learning for all? Second-Level Education in Ireland during COVID-19’ | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in June 2020. |
| 2020 | Carthy, P., Lunn, P. and Lyons, S (2020) Demographic variation in active consumer behaviour: On-line search for retail broadband services. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in July 2020. |
| 2020 | Dempsey, S., Lyons, S. and McCoy, S. (2020) Early mobile phone ownership: Influencing the wellbeing of girls and boys in Ireland? Journal of Children and Media, 14 (4), 2020. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in February 2020. |
| 2021 | Mohan, G., (2021) Magnifying inequality? Home learning environments and social reproduction during school closures in Ireland. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in May 2021. |
| 2021 | Mac Domhnaill, C., Mohan, G and McCoy, S. (2021). Home broadband and student engagement during COVID-19 emergency remote teaching. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in November 2021. |
| 2021 | Public Services Review | McKenzie Rogers Consulting Ltd | €30,730 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister. |
| 2021 | Stakeholder Forum Report | Olwen Dawe | €5,996 | Presented to the Minister in 2022. Report not published. |
| 2021 | High-level economic appraisal and strategic analysis of hosting the America’s Cup in Ireland | Ernst & Young | €122,994 | Presented to the Minister on 11 March 2022. Not published. |
| 2021* *Commissioned in November 2020. Finalised in 2021. | Emergency Call Answering Service Process & Technology Review | BearingPoint Ireland | €76,875 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister. |
| 2021 | A Systematic Review of Outcomes and Trends across the Creative Youth Plan 2017 – 2022 | Trinity College Dublin | €123,803 | Presented to the Minister in March 2024. Published in April 2024. |
| 2021 | Creative C-Change – Analysing the impact of the Creative Climate Action initiative on Climate Change Awareness, Engagement and Action in Ireland | MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, University College Cork | €110,134 | Published in May 2023. |
| 2022 | Observation of selection process for the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme | Ernst & Young | €18,239 | Published in 2023. |
| 2022 | Overview Report Night Time Economy Activation Workshop | Irish Business Intelligence | €4,151 | Workshop report not intended for publication. |
| 2022 | Overview Report Night Time Economy Taskforce Youth Focus Groups | Irish Business Intelligence | €4,742 | Report not intended for publication, presented to Minister in March 2023. |
| 2022 | Creative Communities Economic Action Fund - Synthesis Report 2022 | M-CO | Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2022, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,751 for all work under this wider contract for in 2022. | Published in Q2 2023. |
| 2022 | Griffin, M, Lyons, S., Mohan, G. et al. (2022) Intra-operator mobile plan switching: Evidence from linked survey and billing microdata. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in March 2022. |
| 2022 | Mohan, G. and Lyons, S. (2022) High-speed broadband availability, Internet activity among older people, quality of life and loneliness. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in June 2022. |
| 2022 | Duggan, B. and Mohan, G (2022) A longitudinal examination of young people’s gambling behaviours and participation in team sports. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published December 2022. |
| 2022 | Comparator Analysis of International Archival Legislation | Mastermind Ireland t/a Archives Ireland | €15,375 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister |
| 2022 | Report of the Expert Group on an Individual Complaints Mechanism. | YCD Limited Yellowstone (for design of the report). | €1,906 | Published in 2022. |
| 2022 | External Assurance Process (EAP) to review the Preliminary Business Case for the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall. | PwC | €60,885 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presented to Minister in 2023. |
| 2022 | Recommendation of options to inform seabed levy charging framework(s) for the subsea telecommunications sector. | PwC | €30,627 | Not intended for publication. Submitted to Minister of State on 12 July 2023. |
| 2022/2023 | Provision of Operational Management Advisory Services for the National Postcode Systems | PwC | €193,218 | Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister |
| 2023/2024 | External Assurance Process (EAP) to review the Preliminary Business Case for the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre | PwC | €90,474 | Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister |
| 2023 | O’Reilly, C and Mohan, G. (2023) Parental influences on excessive Internet use among adolescents. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in May 2023. |
| 2023 | Mohan, G (2023) Characteristics and behaviours of young people who meet online contacts face-to-face | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in August 2023. |
| 2023 | Mao, L., Mohan, G., and Normand, C. (2023) Use of Information Communication Technologies by older people and telemedicine adoption during COVID-19: a longitudinal study | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in August 2023. |
| 2023 | Review of Operation of National Digital Research Centre since 2020 | Indecon International Consultants | €49,555 | Published on the Gov.ie website since 16 December 2024. |
| 2023 | Workshop summary prepared as part of ongoing cultural policy development. | Noeleen Hartigan | €6,273 | Internal working document, not intended for publication. Report was provided to the Minister in June 2023. |
| 2023 | Independent Review of Governance and Culture in RTÉ | Independent Expert Advisory Committee supported by Crowe Advisory Ireland Ltd, McCann Fitzgerald (legal advisors), DCU (translation services), and a graphic designer (self-employed, not incorporated as a company) | €328,063 | Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024. |
| 2023 | Independent Review of Contractor Fees, HR and other matters in RTÉ | Independent Expert Advisory Committee supported by Crowe Advisory Ireland Ltd, McCann Fitzgerald (legal advisors), DCU (translation services), and a graphic designer (self-employed, not incorporated as a company) | €532,092 | Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024. |
| 2023 | Examine the books or other records of account of RTÉ as provided for under Section 109 (7)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 | Mazars | €286,160 | Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024. |
| 2023 | Creative Communities Economic Action Fund 2023: Report | M-CO | Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2023, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,987for all work under this wider contract in 2023. | Published in May 2024. |
| 2023 | Evaluation of Creative Communities 3 years of data, 4 data sets being analysed | M-CO | Part of wider contract on ‘Policy and Advice and Research’. For 2023, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,987 for all work under this wider contract in 2023. | To be published in Q1 2026. |
| 2023 | Creative Activity in the Ageing Population, Findings from Wave 6 | The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin | €142,867 | Published in June 2023. |
| 2024 | ‘Women’s Stories: Best Practice in Policy and Curatorial for National Cultural Institutions, National Collections and Partners.’ | Curran Watson & Associates Ltd, T/A CHL & Associates | €26,076 | To be published in due course following presentation to Minister. |
| 2024 | Kren, J., & Lawless, M. (2024). Firm-level attitudes and actions to the “Twin Transition” challenges of digitalisation and climate change. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in 2024. |
| 2024 | Siedschlag, I., Mohan, G., & Yan, W. (2024). Twin transitions across enterprises: Do digital technologies and sustainability go together? | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in November 2024. |
| 2024 | Dempsey, S., & Hoy, A. (2024). Exacerbating the divide? Investigating rural inequalities in high speed broadband availability. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in July 2024. |
| 2024 | Review of the Department’s Arrangements for the Oversight of State Bodies. Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. | Institute of Public Administration | €20,295 | Published on 24 March 2025. |
| 2024 | Digital Preservation Infrastructure Analysis | Chaucer Group | €172,105 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presented to Minister. |
| 2024 | Basic Income for the Arts: Preliminary Results | Prof Michael King | €37,000 | Was not presented to Minister or intended for publication. |
| 2024 | Basic Income for the Arts qualitative report | Dr Jenny Dagg | €21,740 (excl. VAT) | Published in 2025. |
| 2024 | Output Report on the Section 481 Stakeholder Forum | The Brave Lab Ltd | €7,380 | Published in October 2025. |
| 2024 | Report of the Night-Time Economy Accessibility Survey | Ireland Thinks | €18,450 | To be published in due course following presentation to Minister. |
| 2024 | Review of the Night-Time Economy Pilots | Communiqué International | €30,088 | To be published in due course following presentation to Minister. |
| 2024 | Review of Designation of Events of Major Importance to Society under Broadcasting Act 2009 | Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consultants | €116,210 | Submitted to Department November 2024. Review was technical independent analysis to support statutory review of major events and not intended for publication. |
| 2024 | International Connectivity Assessment, includes four sub-reports: Demand Assessment, Gap Analysis, Market Failure and Capacity Analysis | PwC | €623,667 | Reports published at the time of the Consultation on International Connectivity for Telecommunications on 31 May 2024. |
| 2024 | Interim evaluation report on the National Broadband Plan | Ernst and Young | €259,638 | Report presented to Minister circa July 2024. Report published on 4 November 2024 |
| 2024 | MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, University College Cork | €311,200 | Published in May 2025 Ongoing. Due to be published in Q2 2026 | |
| 2024 | Designing schools as creative, collaborative learning spaces. | The Irish Architecture Foundation | €50,000 | Ongoing. Not yet published. |
| 2024 | Evaluation of the Creative Ireland Live Music in Nursing Homes Scheme | M-CO | Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2024, M-CO was paid a total amount of €220,294 for all work under this wider contract in 2024. | Published in December 2024. |
| 2025 | Evaluation of the Creative Youth Nurture Fund | M-CO | Part of the wider contract on policy advice and research’. For 2025, M-CO has been paid a total amount of €163,899 to date for all work under this wider contract in 2025. | Due to be published in Q4 2025. |
| 2025 | Mohan, G. (2025). Kid gamers to adult gamblers? An investigation of gaming in childhood and young adult gambling. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in April 2025. |
| 2025 | McHugh, E., & Connolly, S. (2025). Remote consultations in general practice in Ireland: Who is missing out? | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in April 2025. |
| 2025 | Griffin, M., Mohan, G., McCoy, S., & Lyons, S. (2025). Who says school provides computer skills. Early ICT exposure and later skill perceptions–evidence from school and home environments in Ireland. | ESRI | Part of €100k p.a. contract | Published in May 2025. |
| 2025 | Basic Income for the Arts cost-benefit analysis | Alma Economics | €69,300 | Published in 2025. |
| 2025 | Eircode Transition programme – review of operational costs report | PwC | €27,060 | Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to Minister. |
| 2025 | Expert Advisory Committee's Independent Review of the Governance and Organisational Culture of The Arts Council of Ireland | Independent Expert Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister. | Ongoing | Review is still ongoing. Report will be presented to the Minister on completion of the EAC review. |
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