I should like to thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to raise this important matter on the Adjournment. My question relates to the engagement of private consultants by Departments and Ministers. I decided to raise the matter because of a reply I received to a written question to the Taoiseach and members of the Cabinet on October 14. As a result of that reply I felt there was a need for elaboration and clarification. I tried to get the Taoiseach to clarify aspects of this on the Order of Business but he would not facilitate me. I note that the Taoiseach is not in the House and I hope the Minister of State will give me the information I am seeking.
I fully recognise the need for the appointment of specialist consultants to advise Ministers on complex matters that arise in the course of their work. I accept that there is not sufficient expertise in the Civil Service or public service to deal adequately with those matters. I note from a reply I received from the Minister for Energy that a sum in excess of £500,000 was spent by that Minister last year on the hiring of consultants to report on the state of the Dublin Gas network and technical matters concerning oil exploration. I accept that expenditure on consultants to report on such technical issues is justified. I have no quibble with such a service being provided by outside consultants and I assume that good value was obtained for the money spent on compiling those reports.
However, I doubt if the appointment of outside consultants or specialised advisers is always justified. In many cases the work they are engaged in could be undertaken by civil servants or public servants and we have plenty of both. I am sure that many State employees have expertise that could be utilised instead of the State hiring advisers and consultants from the private sector. Two weeks ago another Deputy was informed that about 130 civil servants are engaged in constituency work for Ministers and Ministers of State. This is giving rise to a reversal of roles with State employees doing political work for Ministers and Ministers of State in their constituencies while private consultants and advisers are hired by the Government to do work that State employees should be capable of doing.
Cynics would say that the engagement of consultants and advisers affords a party in Government an opportunity to look after supporters and provide jobs for the boys. I hope the Minister of State, who will be answering on behalf of the Taoiseach, can tell us the guidelines that are laid down and the instructions given to Ministers and Departments in regard to the employment of outside consultants. That question is relevant when one bears in mind that cutbacks are the order of the day in other areas. We are all aware that important services such as those provided by the National Social Services Board and the Office of the Ombudsman are being severely curtailed but the Government are able to find about £2½ million for outside consultants. Is that expenditure justified?
I agree that there is a need for some cutbacks, particularly when it comes to the appointment of advisers in the field of communications and public relations to do work on behalf of Government Departments. I understand that Departments have their own PR section to communicate information to the public and we have a Government Press Secretary and an Assistant Press Secretary. There is also the Government Information Service, a professionally run service with responsibility to communicate Government information to the public. One would imagine that there is adequate expertise available from the sources I have mentioned to ensure that the Government get their message across to the public without having to resort to hiring private consultants.
I should like to question the decision to engage a communications consultancy company, Carr Communications which is located in Dublin 14 and whose main area of expertise is in the coaching of people for television appearances, radio interviews and public appearances. Will the Minister explain to the House why the Government, or any Department, need to hire the services of such a company bearing in mind that professional people are employed by the State to provide those services? On 14 October I asked the Taoiseach if the Government had engaged the services of that company, and if so, to detail the terms of the engagement, the payment made to the company and so on. The Taoiseach in his reply was evasive, to put it mildly, but he confirmed that the Government had engaged the services of the company. He went on to say that the terms of their engagement were specific to each assignment. I do not know what that means and I am curious to know why the Taoiseach will not tell us the facts.
I understand the company are engaged on an exclusive basis by the Fianna Fáil Government and that they are specifically debarred from doing work for or undertaking an assignment on behalf of any other political party. I would like to know how much this will cost the State. The Minister of State should give us the full details of the contract because the Taoiseach has declined to give us that information. The Taoiseach, in the course of his reply in October, confirmed that payments had not been made to that company but he neglected to tell me the Government's financial commitments to the company under the contract. Will the Minister of State confirm if there is a retainer involved for the exclusive services of the company?
I do not know if the Taoiseach was aware that on the same day he answered this question, I also had a reply to a separate question which I put down to the Minister for the Environment who confirmed that his Department had also engaged the services of this same company, that they were on a retainer of £1,650 per month and had been paid to date a sum of £10,305.70. Is this a separate contract from the one the company have with the Government? If not, surely the Taoiseach was wrong to inform me that no payment had been made to the company. If it is a separate contract, are this company fortunate enough to have even more State work available to them about which we know nothing?
The Fianna Fáil Government have an exclusive contract with this company, ostensibly to provide professional services in the area of the presentation of information to the public. I have already questioned whether that service is required at all given that this is already available as an in-house service within the State sector. Apart from the unnecessary additional cost implications, the real point at issue is that all members of the Government party, including backbenchers, can avail of tuition and coaching for television, radio and other appearances. The payment for these services, which are exclusive to Fianna Fáil, is then made under the guise of an official Government contract.
There is, undoubtedly, a conflict of interests here and the Taoiseach had a duty to come into the House to make a full statement on the matter. If Fianna Fáil personnel want to be properly groomed for television and other public appearances, that is fine, it is their business. However, it would be surely quite disgraceful to do this at the expense of the taxpayers. I hope that the Minister of State will answer fully the points I made and I should like to express my disappointment at the fact that the Taoiseach is not here to answer them because the original question was tabled to him. It is a very important matter when taxpayers' money is involved in payment for professional services which are being availed of by the Fianna Fáil Party as distinct from the Government.
