Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 25 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 4

Written Answers. - Departmental Studies-Reviews.

Mary O'Rourke

Question:

273 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the title and topic of each study and review he has commissioned since he took office; whether the study or review is being completed within his Department or by external consultants; the names of the consultants, if any, being used in this regard; the current state of preparation of each of these studies and reports; and the costs of producing such studies and reports. [13380/96]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

The carrying out of studies and reviews is a normal feature of day-to-day administration and it would not be practicable in the time available to enumerate and describe every single study and review commissioned or requested by me in the period since the Government came into office.

In cases where the study or review mainly comprises an outside consultancy assignment, it is possible to provide the information requested and this is set out in Table 1. This table includes the work of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry, which itself is a review body.

A number of other major policy reviews were also initiated by me and are listed in Table 2. These were, or are being, carried out mainly internally in my Department with some limited external consultancy input.

Table 1

External Consultancies

Name	Nature of Consultancy	Gross Cost (except where stated)	Status
Irish International Advertising; Comerford Technology; Mr. James McDevitt; Technometrics; Irish International Production	Series of studies on Science and Technology topics arising from the Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council	£1,675.00	Completed
£208.00
£2,250.00
£2,420.00
£7,260.00
(all payments made in 1995)
Investment Bank of Ireland Corporate Finance Limited	Advisers to Government on identification of strategic partner for Irish Steel and negotiation of a deal with partner	£149,435.00(paid to date)	Completed
A & L Goodbody, Solicitors	Legal advisers to Government during process of sale of Irish Steel	£83,832.00(paid in 1995)	Completed
Environmental Management and Auditing Services Ltd.	Environmental Consultants to Government on sale of Irish Steel	£15,340.12(paid in 1995)£3,733.00(paid in 1996)	Completed
Deloitte & Touche	Economic evaluation of Insurance Costs in Ireland	£82,500.00 plus VAT(no payment made to date)	Being finalised
Hay MSL	Management study for Department Strategic Management Initiative	£17,840.88(paid in 1995)	Completed
Myles O'Reilly & Associates	Study of steel prices	£2,662.00(paid in 1995)	Completed
ESRI	Annual School Leaver survey	£37,624.00(paid in 1995)	Completed
Dave Walsh & Associates Management and Training Consultants	Consultancy Support for Aer Lingus Task Force	£7,000.00(paid in 1995)	Completed
Mr. J. Joyce, Actuary	Provision of actuarial advice for Insurance Division	£85,960.00 in 1995 and £50,396 in 1996	Ongoing
Coopers & Lybrand	Information Technology Project in the Department	£40,000.00 plus VAT(of which £30,536 paid in 1995 and £17,083 in 1996	Completed
Commission on the Newspaper Industry	The Commission was asked to examine, report and make recommendations about a wide range of issues affecting the newspaper industry	The Commission had a budget provision of £100,000	I received the Commission's Report on Monday 24 June
Deloitte & Touche	Information Technology Project in the Department	£131,774 plus VAT£80,615 paid in 1995 and £74,590 in 1996	Completed
Quest	Information Technology Project in the Department	£1,500.00 plus VAT£8,984 paid in 1996	Ongoing
Ernst & Young	Information Technology Project in the Department	£17,787£17,801 paid in 1995	Completed
EPS Computer Systems	Information Technology Project in the Department	£4,235 paid in March 1996	Completed
Ernst & Young	External evaluator of the EU Operational Programme for Industrial Development 1994-1999	£354,000(Co-financed—£34,475 paid in 1996)	Ongoing for period of operation of the Operational Programme
Ernst & Young	Medium Term Review of RETEX Operational Programme	£42,000 (Co-financed)	Ongoing
Management Services Unit of Department of Finance	Study of work practices of the Patents Office	No cost to Department of Enterprise and Employment will arise as work is being undertaken by Department of Finance	Draft report presented in May 1996
Management Services Unit Of Department of Finance	Study of work practices of the Employment Appeals Tribunal	No cost to Department of Enterprise and Employment will arise as work is being undertaken by Department of Finance	Likely to be completed end July 1996
Mr. Brian Lenihan Department of Finance	Review of the Crafts Council of Ireland	No Cost	Completed
Eustace Patterson	Development of performance/impact indicator for the Local Employment Service	£4,065.00	Still in progress
The National Council for Educational Awards	Assessment of educational standards of the Institute of Incorporated Public Accountants (IIPA) in connection with IIPA request for recognition under the Companies Act, 1990	No cost to Department	Completed
Goodbody Economic Consultants Ltd., Dublin	External appraisal of CEB Enterprise Plans	£18,392	Completed
University of Limerick	Information technology requirements of County Enterprise Boards	£14,520 (No payment made to date)	Likely to be completed in July 1996
Mr. Arthur Nowlan, ACIS, DPA, Blackrock, County Dublin	Preparation of accounting procedures for the County Enterprise Boards	£3,150	Completed
Professor P. McNutt	Economic advice in relation to the proposed Conoco/Statoil merger	£4,000 estimated	Ongoing

Table 2

Subject	Consultancy Input
Human Resources Development
An internal review is under way of national policy in the area of human resources development. This will result in the publication of a White Paper.	Mr. Paul Tansey has been paid £2,500 to date for consultancy work in connection with the White Paper.
Labour Market Strategy
The Planning Unit of my Department were engaged for some months in a review of Labour Market Strategy and a report was Published last April.	While the majority of the work was carried out in-house, some costs arose in relation to publication of the document. These costs totalled £16,000.
Services Policy Statement
This Statement will review, inter alia, the impact and growth of the services sector and examine the factors which affect its growth and development.	Fitzpatrick Associates are providing assistance in completing the statement at an approximate cost of £5,000.
Enterprise Strategy
Work is nearing completion on an internal review of enterprise strategy which will seek to build on the insights of the Culliton report and on the achievements and experience of its implementation to date.	This work is expected to cost approximately £11,000 (excluding VAT).