Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 19 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 3

Written Answers. - Ministerial Costs.

John O'Donoghue

Question:

95 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the number and cost of staff in her general and private ministerial offices and the general and private ministerial offices of the Minister (s) of State at her Department; the number and cost of contract and part-time staff employed in such offices; the cost of all travel undertaken by her or the Minister(s) of State at her Department since appointment to office outlining the destinations visited, the duration, dates and purpose of the trips; the total expenses incurred by her or the Minister(s) of State at her Department: and the cost and names of consultancy services to her Department and each State body under the aegis of her Department to date in 1995. [15304/95]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

The information sought by the Deputy regarding the number and cost of staff, including contract and part-time, in my general and private offices and those of my Ministers of State since my appointment is set out in tabular form as follows:

Office	Number of staff	Total cost
		£
Minister's General Office	4 civil servants	46,772.98
	2 contract staff	18,721.72
		65,494.70
Minister's Private Office	8 civil servants	120,890.18
	1 contract staff	31,448.91
		151,723.62
Minister of State Burton's General Office	2 civil servants	23,290.43
	1 contract staff	10,679.51
		33,969.94
Minister of State Burton's Private Office	2 civil servants	31,875.33
Minister of State Currie's Private Office	2 civil servants	29,258.93
Total	18 civil servants	252,087.85
	4 contract staff	60,850.14
		312,937.99

With regard to the cost of all travel undertaken by me and the Ministers of State in 1995, I refer the Deputy to my reply of Wednesday, 18 October 1995 to Deputy Ivor Callely concerning all visits made abroad. The figures requested in relation to domestic travel are not readily available.

The total expenditure on professional fees in respect of services rendered by 19 consultancy firms hired by my Department from January 1995 to date, in relation to prison works or specific building projects amounted to £446,012. In relation to the Probation and Welfare Service the total sum expended in respect of consultancy fees was £26,269. It would not, however be appropriate for me to break these figures down to reveal the cost of each consultancy because of the market sensitive nature of this information. Furthermore, in the interests of security of the prisons, it would not be appropriate for me to identify consultancy firms or individual consultants involved in those prisons works or specific building projects.

The cost and names of the other consultancy services to my Department and to the other organisations under the aegis of my Department in 1995 to date are set out in tabular form as follows:

Companies	Service provided	Cost including VAT
		£
C.E.R.T.	Survey of Laundry and Hygiene procedures	2,000
Dr. Mark Morgan	Research in “Stress in an Garda Síochána”	3,000
Andersen Consulting	I.T. Conceptual Design	34,108
Nortcontel (Ireland) Limited	Network Consultancy	22,095
Lan Communications	Network Consultancy	12,365
Price Waterhouse	Strategic Management Initiative	999
Coyne Communications	Public Relations	8,252
Peter White & Associates	Public Relations	12,282
Pat Heneghan Public Relations Consultants	Media Training	968
Lucy McCaffrey & Company	Planning and Facilitation	1,089
Total	97,158

There are no semi-State bodies under the aegis of my Department.