Vol. 576 No. 6
190 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the total amount of expenditure on consultancy by his Department in 2000, 2001 and 2002; the numbers of consultants engaged by his Department in those years; the steps which have been taken to reduce the expenditure on consultancy and the reliance on consultants by his Department in these years and for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30271/03]
The number of consultants engaged by my Department, and expenditure under my Department's consultancy provision, for each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 are set out in the table overleaf. This includes all consultancies undertaken by the communications, energy and broadcasting functions which transferred to my Department with effect from 18 June 2002.
The engagement by my Department of external consultants is generally confined to circumstances where specialised knowledge or expertise, which is not available in the Department or elsewhere in the civil or public service, is required for a temporary period; a need for objectivity and-or independence is deemed essential; a consultancy study is required by an external body ie. the European Union; a specialist study-project must be completed within a very short time scale; while the specialised knowledge or expertise may be available within the Department, performing the task "in house" would involve a prohibitive opportunity cost and-or would be impractical, for example, if staff engaged on other essential duties would have to be diverted.
In order to control and minimise expenditure on consultancy my Department's policy is to use and develop its own management skills and services as far as possible and to make every effort to avail of particular skills and experiences which other parts of the public sector may possess. All proposed consultancies are examined in detail and require the specific and prior approval of senior management.
Finally, my Department has in the last year also established an evaluation unit which over coming years will provide a cost effective alternative to the engagement of consultancy expertise for the purposes of policy, programme and value for money evaluations, cost benefit analysis and risk assessment.
Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Consultancy Expenditure 2000-2002
|
Year |
Number ofConsultants Engaged |
Expenditure |
|
€ |
||
|
2000 |
40 |
1,433,085 |
|
2001 |
73 |
2,293,684 |
|
2002 |
107 |
3,750,536 |
