Consultancy Contracts.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 November 2005

Wednesday, 30 November 2005

Questions (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

Enda Kenny

Question:

7 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the consultants engaged by his Department since June 1997; the purpose of each assignment; the projected cost and actual cost of each assignment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30010/05]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Question:

8 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the consultants engaged by his Department since 1997; the projected cost of each assignment and the actual cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31428/05]

Trevor Sargent

Question:

9 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the number of consultancy contracts commissioned by his Department, or the boards and agencies under the auspices of his Department since 1997; the purpose and costs of each consultancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31434/05]

Pat Rabbitte

Question:

10 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach the number of contracts valued in excess of €50,000 awarded by him to outside consultants in respect of each year since 2000; the recipient of the contract in each case; the details of the work covered by the contract; the original estimate of the cost of the contract; the final amount paid in respect of each such contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31497/05]

Joe Higgins

Question:

11 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach the projected and actual cost of consultancy contracts commissioned by his Department since 1997; and the purpose of each assignment. [36866/05]

Oral answers (22 contributions)

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 11, inclusive, together.

I propose to circulate with the Official Report a table which gives details of consultants engaged by my Department since 1997. A second table to be circulated gives details of consultants engaged by bodies under the aegis of my Department during the same period. A third table gives details of the number of contracts above €50,000 in each year since 2000.

Every effort is made by my Department to minimise expenditure on consultancy services. However, where it is necessary to engage consultants in order to avail of their particular expertise or experience, the procurement of consultancy services is subject to public procurement guidelines and, where applicable, EU procurement rules and guidelines, with selection criteria geared to select the most economically advantageous tender. It is also our policy that in so far as it is possible, skills-transfer from consultants to departmental staff takes place as an integral part of all consultancy engagements.

The purpose of this is to increase the knowledge and expertise of departmental staff and to reduce and, if possible, eliminate future dependance on consultants in the areas concerned.

Table 1: Department of the Taoiseach.

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1997-2001	Mr. Noel Dorr	Personal Representative of the Taoiseach on the Carlsson Group	38,961	38,961
1998 (Phase 1)1999 (Phase 2)	St. John’s University New York & ESRI	A study to consider and evaluate the economic, budgetary and administrative impact of the introduction of a basic income system	34,283(Phase 1)97,521(Phase 2)	34,283(Phase 1)97,521(Phase 2)
1998/1999	William M. Mercer & Associates	Consultancy services in respect of the development of a Performance Management system for the Irish Civil Service	26,621	26,621
1999	Farrell Grant Sparks	Business Planning Templates	4,897	4,897
1999	PA Consulting	Audit of Year 2000 Contingency Plans	8,888	8,888
1999	Prospectus Consultants	Feasibility Study into the establishment of a training facility for IFSC companies	6,349	6,349
1999	Institute of Public Administration	Development and delivery of Phase 1 of the Department of the Taoiseach’s Career Development Programme	75, 232	66,723
1999-2000	Professors Rory O’Donnell and Paul Teague	To evaluate partnership at work in Ireland	50,789	50,789
1999	Deloitte and Touche	Business Analysis and Review of the Financial Management Function	46,691	46,691
2000-2002	PricewaterhouseCoopers	e-Cabinet Feasibility Study	152,094	152,094
2000	Drury Communications	Consultancy/PR services in respect of the development of the PMDS pack and supply of promotional material for launch event2	37,745	37,745
2000	Institute of Public Administration	Consultancy services in respect of development of Guidelines for Strategy Statements	4,916	4,916
2000	BFK Design Ltd.	Development and design of elements of the PMDS packs2	16,912	16,912
2001	Hay Management Consultants	Design and development of effective systems of feedback within the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS)2	45,774	45,774
2001	Dr. Jane Pillinger	Research Report on Equality Diversity and Quality Customer Service2	38,700	38,700
2001	Arthur Andersen	Management Information Framework	93,440	93,440
2001	Dr. Tom McCarthy, NUI Maynooth	Research for Consultation Document: Towards Better Regulation2	7,500	6,692
2001-2002	Sureskills	Windows 2000 implementation	147,908	147,908
2001-2002	Mr. Alex Matheson, OECD	Participation on Steering Group for the Evaluation of the Strategic Management Initiative2	14,014	14,014
2001	PA Consulting Group	Evaluation of the Strategic Management Initiative2	471,036	491,992
2001	Institute of Public Administration	Preparation of HR Strategy Guidelines document2	18,284	18,284
2001-2002	Oracle	Management Information Framework	229,623	229,623
2001	Deloitte & Touche	Value for Money Audit of Mobile Phone services	7,618	7,618
2001	IBEC	Review of Health & Safety	4,889	4,889
2001	Hosca Management Consultants	Consultancy services for carrying out an Employee Opinion Survey	12,168	14,613
2002	Octagon	IT Strategic Review	8,400	8,400
2002	Dr. Patrick Butler	Evaluation of Customer Action Plans2	32,000	32,000
2002	Prof. Philip Lane	Commentary on Better Regulation Submissions2	4,500	4,500
2002	Peter White	Consultancy regarding communications for the Civil Service modernisation programme	850	850
2002	KPMG Consulting (Bearing Point)	Implementation of a Human Resource Management System	88,000	87,695
2003	Watson Wyatt	Consultancy services for carrying out an Employee Opinion Survey	25,410	25,410
2003	Watson Wyatt	Consultancy services for carrying out an Employee Opinion Survey — further reports	14,520	14,520
2003	Grayling Gilmore PR Consultants*	EU Presidency Logo Launch & Public Relations Campaign	60,000	60,000
2003	Jacobs & Associates	Consultancy on regulatory reform policy2	12,947	12,947
2003	Professor Martin Cave, Warwick Business School	Consultancy on regulatory reform policy2	575	575
2003	Fujitsu Services	E-Cabinet Security Policy	15,730	15,730
2003	Lansdowne Market Research	Irish Civil Service — Customer Satisfaction Survey report2	36,000	36,000
2003	NGM Market Research	Communicating Change and Modernisation in the Civil Service report2	15,000	15,000
2003	Enterprise LSE	London School of Economics to provide training course for Irish Officials in relation to regulation2	50,820	38,879
2003	Carr Communications	Development and delivery of Phase II of the Department of the Taoiseach’s Career Development Programme	68,100	62,646
2004	Eurokom	Security Review	7,650	7,650
2004	Red Dog Design	EU Presidency Awareness Campaign	65,740	65,740
2004	Carr Communications	Disability Bill	12,147	12,147
2004	Good Practice Ltd	Tailoring of on-line toolkit for Department Intranet	33,350	33,350
2004	McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors	Research and preparation of report — Redress for Civil Service Customers2	45,375	76,894
2004	Watson Wyatt	Employee Opinion Survey	27,947	27,947
2004	The Design Consultancy	Step by Step Guide to the PMDS System	4,719	4,719
2004	Paddy Walley	Ingenuity Project	6,000	6,000
2004	Grayling Gilmore	PR re EU Presidency	21,023	21,023
2004	Red Dog Design	EU Presidency Posters	2,060	2,060
2004	David Donaghy	Day of Welcomes production	28,900	28,900
2004	Academic Conferences Ltd	ECEG Conference Management	36,300	36,300
2004	Jacobs & Associates	Preparation of report for EU Conference on Better Regulation2	18,876	18,876
2004	Dr Patrick Paul Walsh, Trinity College Dublin	Preparation of report for EU Conference on Better Regulation2	5,250	5,250
2004	HCM International	Research on the integration of the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) with HR policies and processes2	39,930	Nil (ongoing)
2004	Zerflow	E-Cabinet Security Assessment	5,929	5,929
2004-2005	Goodbody Economic Consultants	Economic assistance to Departments/Offices piloting regulatory Impact Analysis2	21,780	21,054 ongoing
2004	RTE	EU Presidency Consultancy Services	35,256	35,256
2004-2005	Mercer Human Resource Consulting	Review of the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) Evaluation results for technical and professional staff2	15,125	15,125
2004 & 2005	Des Geraghty	Promotion of the Affordable Housing Initiative	3,675	3,675
2005	IQ Content	Usability & Accessibility Review of websites	37,890	19,239
2005	Tansey, Webster & Co	Affordable Housing Proposal	9,680	9,680
2005	Hay Group (Ireland) Ltd	Business Plan Facilitation	3,876	3,876
2005	Pan Research Ltd	Customer Service Evaluation Report	6,313	6,313
2005	Enterprise LSE	London School of Economics to provide a training course for Irish Officials on regulation2	59,600	41,443
2005	Fitzpatrick Associates	Research Project on the Special Initiatives under Sustaining Progress	37,207	37,207
2005	Institute of Public Administration	Research in relation to mapping of regulatory framework2	21,780	13,310 to date
2005	Grant Thornton	Retention of Accountants on behalf of the National Implementation Body	60,000	Nil (Ongoing)

* Met from funds provided by Department of Foreign Affairs.

2 Costs met from Change Management Fund, administered by the Department of Finance.

Table 2: Bodies under the Aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach. - Information Society Commission

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
April 1998-2001	Edelman Public Relations	Engaged on a retainer basis to manage a communications and media strategy for the ISC	152,115	152,115
April 1998 to June 1999	The Learning Organisation	Cyril Drury an educational expert was engaged to assist the Learning Advisory Group in the preparation of a report on the non-formal environment for learning and information and communications technology	34,992	34,992
1998	Lansdowne Market Research	Appointed to carry out the Public and Business Survey	61,455	61,455
1999	MRBI	Research survey of the general public designed to establish levels of awareness of, and engagement with, the technologies associated with the evolving Information Society	35,951	35,951
1999	MRBI	Survey of Irish businesses to establish awareness of technology	23,814	23,814
July to November 1999	Edelman Worldwide	PR Consultancy for Netd@ys	66,026	66,026
November 1999	MRBI	Update of 1999 research survey to assess the impact of Netd@ys	12,214	12,214
2000	MRBI	Research into awareness and usage of information and communications technology amongst Irish businesses	21,332	21,332
2000	MRBI	Research into General Public Awareness and Usage of Information and Communications Technology 2000	32,355	32,355
2000	NW Labs	To examine the issues of convergency and the implications for telecommunications communications regulation for Ireland	26,977	26,977
2000	Centre for Research in Technology in Education	Research material for seminar	20,890	20,890
2000	Dunnion Partners	Development of Government websites review and report	4,609	4,609
2000	KPMG	Tax incentives & barriers to e working in Ireland	6,349	6,349
2000	Farrell Grant Sparks	Research into future needs for Ireland’s development as an Information Society	30,669	30,669
2001	Chapman Flood Mazars	Auditing services supplied for Equalskills initiative	19,600	19,600
2002	Chinook Consulting	Evaluation of Equalskills Initiative	18,165	18,165
2002	ElectricNews.net	Production of e-Government Ireland Bulletin	24,040	24,040
2002	Text 100	Messaging Workshop of ISC members	6,655	6,655
2002	MRBI	Business survey on attitudes to the Information Society in Ireland	28,740	28,740
2002	MRBI	General Public survey on attitudes to the Information Society in Ireland	56,628	56,628
2002-2003	Models Research (now Itech Research)	Consultancy and report on inclusive Information Society Development	59,931	59,931
2002	Accenture	Consultancy and report on a National e-Payments strategy	155,334	155,334
2002-2005	Fleischman-Hillard Saunders	Engaged on a retainer basis to manage a communications and media strategy for the ISC	133,677	133,677
2003	Parallel IT	Electronic Document Management Exchange	13,613	13,613
2003	Sonas Innovation	Consultancy and report on Ireland’s Broadband Future	49,610	49,610
2003	DCU	Research on Perspectives of Information Society Thinkers	6,655	6,655
2003	ESRI	Analysis of General Public and Business Surveys 1996-2002	7,260	7,260
2004	Version 1 Software	Report on the assessment of the e-Health progress and potential benefits	48,400	48,400

National Forum on Europe

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
2002	Keating and Associates	Media Strategy and market Survey	6,278	6,278
2002-2005	Caroline Erskine	PR Consultancy	ongoing	188,628
2002-2005	Conor Joyce	PR Consultancy	85,568	85,568

All-Party Committee on the Constitution

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1999	IT Assist	Advice on e mail and internet systems	461	461
December 1997	Brian Murphy	PR — regarding launch of 2nd Progress Report	317	317
1997	Datapac	Installation of computer network	922	922
1997/98	Coakley/Laver	Study on the future of Seanad Éireann	1,270	1,270
1998	Dr Richard Synott	Research on Referendum	1,270	1,270
1998	Lansdowne Market Research	Research on Referendum Voting	6,914	6,914
1998	Gerard Hogan SC	Honorarium for legal drafting on constitutional amendments	3,073	3,073
1999	Laura Rattigan BL	Legal Research	1,663	1,663
1999	Frank Farrell In-house Services	Creation of a database to record public submissions on the Committee’s Reports	190	190
2000	Moss Technologies	Year 2000 Compliance	307	307
2000	Sureskills.com	IT support	3,687	3,687
2001	Gerard Hogan S.C.	Research on Referenda	480	480
2000-2001	Shelbourne Public Affairs	PR	16,837	16,837
2000	Sureskills.com	IT Support	3,687	3,687
2000-2001	Diarmuid Rossa Phelan	Legal research	6,200	6,200
2001	Richard Humphreys	Research on rights	16,349	16,349
2002	Seán de Fréine	Feasibility study	500	500
2002-2003	Donal Ó Maolfabhaile	PR Consultancy	11,600	11,600

Tribunal of Inquiry (Payments to Messrs. Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry)

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1999 to date	Baker Consultants	Design, implement and host a Web site	12,978	12,978
1999	Moss Technology Limited	Year 2000 compliance report and follow up	6,352	6,352
1999	Confidential	Legal consultancy in relation to the Moriarty Tribunal	7,536	7,536
2000	Confidential	Commercial research	3,851	3,851
2001	Ionet Ltd	Demonstration	107	107
2001	Moss technology	Report on Tribunal IT network and system	3,055	3,055
2003	Peter Bacon & Associates	Specialist Data	46,948	46,948
2004	Peter Bacon & Associates	Analysis and Advice	50,820	50,820

National Centre for Partnership and Performance

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
2001-2002	Bradley McGurk Partnership	Corporate Identity	25,242	25,242
2001	Woodgrange Consultancies	Irish Times 2000	7,999	7,999
2001	Bill Roche	Consultative Process and Strategic Planning	31,743	31,743
2001	Tom Neville	Guidelines on Organisational change	20,570	20,570
2001-2003	Bradley McGurke	Corporate Identity	1,116	1,116
2002	Options Consultancy	Information & Consultation Project	5,445	5,445
2002-2003	Options Consultancy	Learning Strategy	14,425	14,425
2003	Tom Neville	Employee Financial Involvement	30,949	30,949
2003	Paern Kandola	Competency Development	11,206	11,206
2003	ESRI	Surveys (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	76,481	76,481
2003	Align Management Solutions	Health Strategy using a Partnership Approach	7,000	7,000
2003	Roy Greene	Scoping paper (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	4,980	4,980
2003	Maria Maguire	Scoping paper (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	26,988	26,988
2003	John Geary	Scoping paper (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	5,600	5,600
2003	Align Management Solutions	Consultation paper (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	1,400	1,400
2004	Brian Moss	Forum on the Workplace of the Future	9,600	9,600
2004	William Roche	Forum on the Workplace of the Future	13,1987	13,198
2004	Maria Maguire	Forum on the Workplace of the Future	13,673	13,673
2004	John Caden	Public Relations	83,445	83,445
2004	ESRI	Surveys (Forum on the Workplace of the Future)	28,785	28,785
2005	Maria Maguire	Forum on the Workplace of the Future	11,514	11,514

National Economic and Social Forum

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1998	Advance Organisation and Management Development	Consultancy work for the Forum relating to Project Teams	14,221	14,221
1999	Hay Consultants, D. Halloran and C. O’Connell	Social Housing	10,351	10,351
1999	Anne Clarke	Local Employment Services	8,386	8,386
2000	Agtel	Social Housing	38,092	38,092
2000	NI Housing Executive	Social Housing	7,389	7,389
2000	Hay Consultants	Labour Shortages	2,920	2,920
2001	Kieran McKeown	Lone Parents	6,223	6,223
2000	Anne Clark	Lone Parents	4,400	4,400
2000	NUI Maynooth	Lone Parents	7,927	7,927
2000	Goodbody	Draft opinion on National Anti-Poverty Strategy	3,143	3,143
2000	UCD (Equality Studies Centre)	Draft Opinion on Equality issues	18,056	18,056
2001	Tamarron	Work on NESF Report No. 23	5,079	5,079
2002	ESRI (Emer Smyth)	Early School Leavers	3,892	3,892
2002	Eithne Fitzgerald	Older workers	3,600	3,600
2002	Jerry Sexton	Older workers	15,392	15,392
2002	ESRI Survey	Older workers	15,730	15,730
2002	ESRI Questionnaire	Social Capital	12,342	12,342
2002	Ann Clarke	Older workers	3,282	3,282
2003	Mary Murphy	Child Income support paper	1,440	1,440
2004	Ita Mangan	Co-op	3,030	3,030
2005	Colm Harmon	Early Childhood Care and Education	6,323	6,323
2005	RAND Europe	Evidence Based Policy Making Seminar	£6,737stg.	£6,737stg.
2005	WRC Consultants	Creating a more inclusive labour market	15,094	15,094
2005	Patricia Quinn	Cultural Citizenship	15,150	15,150
2005	Eustace Patterson	Creating a more inclusive labour market	4,292	4,292

National Economic and Social Council

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1999	Dr John Sweeney & Dr Kieran McKeown Social and Economic Research Consultant	Preparing background documents for Strategy Report	14,365	14,365
1999	Dr John Geary Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business UDC	Preparing background documents for Strategy Report	5,333	5,333
1999	Dr Richard Boyle Institute of Public Administration	Preparing background documents for Strategy Report	5,377	5,377
1999	ITG Computers	Testing equipment for Year 2000 compliance	3,285	3,285
2001	ESRI	Research re Strategic review of Tax and Welfare system under PPF	12,697	12,697
2001	Síle O’Connor	Research for reports 107 & 108	6,984	6,984
2001	J Visser	Paper for Report No 111	13,069	13,069
2001	Indecon Consultants	Regional Development in the North West	21,202	21,202
2003	Edgeworth Organisational Consultants	PR Consultancy	1,200	1,200
2004	UPE Consultancy Ltd	Housing Workshop	7,139	7,139
2004	Kathleen Scanlon	Housing Workshop	889	889
2004	Bill O’Herlihy Communications	Professional Services for NESC’s 30th Anniversary Conference	3,779	3,779
2004	Katholieke Universiteit	Housing Workshop	3,147	3,147
2004	Professor G. Meen	Housing Workshop	1,538	1,538
2004	Bill O’Herlihy Communications	Professional Services for EESC Conference	3,025	3,025
2004	Intl. Org. for Migration	Consultancy fees for NESC Migration Policy Study	119,692	119,692
2005	O’Herlihy Communications	Professional Services for media coverage of housing report	4,273	4,273
2005	Ms Bernadette Andreosso	Consultancy fees for “Ireland & Globalisation” Strategy report	7,000	7,000

Campus & Stadium Ireland Development Ltd

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
Up to December 2000	PricewaterhouseCoopers	Feasibility studies		602,906
Up to December 2000	McCann Fitzgerald	Legal Consultancy		13,346
Up to December 2000	Wilson Hartnell	Public Relations		70,531
Up to December 2000	RIAI	Architectural consultancy		19,046
Up to December 2000	Deloitte & Touche	Tax Consultancy		15,872

National Millennium Committee

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1999	BDO Simpson Xavier Consulting	Detailed assessment of a proposal for a Millennium Tower (the old Jameson chimney at Smithfield in Dublin)		6,299
1999 to 2001	Peter Owens DDB	Advertising/information campaign		413,047
1999 to 2001	CMS Marketing (Century Merchandising)	Public Relations Work		392,883
1999 to 2001	Pembroke Communication	Public Relations Work		107,350
2000	Irish Film & Television Network	Millennium Event Guide		31,491
1999 to 2001	Fusio Limited	Design, set up website		26,362
1999 to 2001	BFK Design Limited	Design of the Millennium Logo, put the logo on disc for use by authorised bodies, and to create large backdrops for use at various Millennium launches		41,372

Referendum Commission (operated in 1998)

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1998	Drury Communications	PR Consultants on the Northern Ireland Referendum		2,367,098*

*(of which €141,731 was media consultancy management fee; the balance was sub-contractor/supplier expenditure via media consultants)

Communicating Europe

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1997	International Music Event	Europe Day Concert		34,854
1997	Patsy McArdle	Production of Euro link column		9,523

Local Development (Transferred from Taoiseach’s Vote in 1997)

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1997	Keating & Associates	Operational Programme for Urban & Rural Development		20,617
1997	Goodbody Economic Consultants	External Evaluation of Operational Programme		75,975
1997	EPS Computer Systems	Computer System for Local Development		35,831

Western Development (Transferred from Taoiseach’s Vote in 1997)

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1997	Brendan McKenna	Updating Aran Islands		1,521
1997	Centre for Adult Education	Public Services in Rural Areas		12,697

Devolution Commission (Transferred from Taoiseach’s Vote in 1997)

Year of Contract	Supplier	Purpose	Estimated Cost	Total Expenditure
			€	€
1997	Lansdowne Market Research	Survey on Attitudes to Local Government		62,523

Table 3: Number of Consultancy Contracts above €50,000.

Year	Department of the Taoiseach
2000	1
2001	4
2002	1
2003	2
2004	2
2005	1

Mr. Kenny

I thank the Taoiseach for including the tables.

One of the most expensive contracts issued by the Department of the Taoiseach in recent years was the €500,000 spent on the evaluation of the strategic management initiative in 2001. That is a significant expenditure in any event. What recommendations from that particular consultancy report have been put in place to justify that level of expenditure? What sort of recommendations were made in that evaluation that have since been implemented? I will wait and see what the tables that the Taoiseach will circulate will show.

The Taoiseach

As the Deputy will be aware, the work of the strategic management initiative, which really commenced in 1992, was centred in my Department for the entire Government area. It was not just for my Department.

That report started the work on the financial management in Departments, on the human resources management in Departments and on many other guidelines that have been set out for various systems' improvements in Departments. There were not people in the Government system who were capable of dealing with that. I have listed a breakdown of the various initiatives that happened under that but, by and large, it was to try to improve the modernisation and change management agenda across a range of Departments. The Department's modernisation programme represented some of those costs and related to the implementation of modernisation initiatives, but the costs went mainly on the modern financial management and the human resources management systems. There were some other ones, including performance management and development systems. It has proved to be highly successful. We now have very modern financial management systems.

The reason for outside engagement in this was the move to accrual accounting, which we had not got in Departments previously. Up until then the entire system operated on a cash basis. The moves in recent years to develop an accrual accounts system make it far more modern. They make it similar to that which would probably apply in industry, but it was always done previously on a cash basis where one had the carry-over rather than the accrual system.

Equally, there have been substantial savings. Up until we introduced, a few years after 2001, the human resource management system, issues were recorded but one did not have the ability to get the breakdowns and the information on staffing and costs, expenditures on telephones, allowances and such issues which are now built into the HR system. That has proved to be very effective in my Department and I am sure right across the system. The work that was undertaken over the years on this has now proved that we have a very modern financial reporting system.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Does the Taoiseach's Department, and indeed all Departments, operate a standard scale of fees for consultancy work? Is there a tendering process operated for such work in the same way as for Government contracts? Is there a particular threshold over which his Department is obliged to put consultancy work out to tender? Can he tell us whether there has been any comparison done between comparable in-house work in Departments and consultancy secured labour in order that we would have some idea of the cost benefit analysis, the standard of the work, whether the competency exists within the Department and whether it is necessary to opt for consultancy work?

The Taoiseach

The procurement of consultancy services in my Department is subject to the public procurement guidelines of the Department of Finance and they are set out in the Guidelines for Engagement of Consultants in the Civil Service of 1999. There have been some amendments to those, but not many. Procurement of outside expertise in the public relations field is also subject to public procurement guidelines as set out in the 2004 Department of Finance publication and the Public Procurement Guidelines Competitive Process, which replaced the previous Department of Finance guidelines entitled Public Procurement 1994 Edition — Green Book. That is the basis by which all contracts are governed. Any contract must fulfil those regulations, and the section, the Accounting Officer and the financial people in each Department must satisfy the arrangements as set out in those documents.

In addition, the procurement of these services is also subject to the applicable EU procurement rules and guidelines. Since early this year additional guidelines have been specifically put in place for communications consultancies and that is now incorporated into the Cabinet handbook. Most recently a number of new measures were announced which will contribute to improving the management and value for money aspects of consultancies, and the Deputy will be familiar with those.

On the Department of Finance guidelines for engagement of consultants, the way we operate these in my Department is we try to avoid needing consultants in the first place, if we have the expertise within the Department. As I mentioned on IT, we managed to do without them totally because we were lucky enough to have people with third level qualifications in this area who were able to form a project team. This is not always the case.

A consultant transfers skills or expertise to an organisation, which either does not possess these in-house or requires an independent evaluation assessment to be made. These are the two circumstances in which we would get outside consultants: where we do not have the relevant specialists in the Department and where we think the work concerned requires an independent evaluation of the way we are doing it, or where it is questioned and we believe, for internal audit or other purposes, that maybe there is another way.

Work done by outsiders is often not considered to be consultancy. A definition in the 1999 regulations states that the engagement of non-permanent staff to carry out the work of the office, where it is staff substitution, is not consultancy. If there are contracted services, the purchase of ongoing and essential routine services for a specified period, maintenance and so on, these are not consultancy. Neither is expenditure on software development from analysis to implementation because this involves developing the system, not consultancy. These are the definitions.

The Deputy makes a good point. When we employ consultancy for a particular purpose we try to fully engage the staff of the Civil Service in the work involved so that when a similar job arises, perhaps in another section, at least the civil servants will be familiar with procedures. This also has attractions for civil servants as regards training. We try to avoid replicating consultancy work in different sections and paying for it all again. The Deputy makes a valid point, and certainly in my Department what is being done cuts down on expenditure. The figures from my Department indicate that we do not use very many consultancies for this reason.

One initiative my Department takes which costs money but gives value is that it encourages staff to embark on further education through night classes. The fees are paid and they are given time off. This helps to build up expertise within the Departments. There is always the danger that they may transfer from the Department, but it is preferable, at least, that they remain in the Civil Service system.

Mr. Boyle

Given that the Book of Estimates submitted in recent weeks indicates less money in each category on consultancy expenditure for every Department, does the Government expect to make less use of consultancies in the coming year? Is this recognition that there has been an overuse of consultancies in the past? Given that parliamentary questions have been answered to the effect that since 1998, across all Departments, there have been more than——

An Ceann Comhairle

This question refers specifically to the Department of the Taoiseach.

Mr. Boyle

I am getting to the Department of the Taoiseach.

An Ceann Comhairle

I would prefer if the Deputy would come directly to it.

Mr. Boyle

There have been 3,000 consultancies in general by the Government. The Taoiseach has indicated earlier that we will be supplied with tables to indicate how that applies specifically to his Department. We have not been given the answers as regards overall cost. Without the House having the tables directly before us, will the Taoiseach at least tell us beforehand the number of consultancies that have applied to his Department and the overall cost?

The Taoiseach

The number is 70 consultancies across my Department, effectively for a nine-year period. That is about an average of eight per annum. A good number of those relate to the change management agenda under CMOD, as indicated in my answer to Deputy Kenny. Some of those are paid for by them as well as the performance and development issues. Some of them relate to the period for the year before and during the EU Presidency. In departmental terms there is not a great deal. In the social policy area, surrounding social partnership issues in the main, there are eight. On independent evaluations — the point I was making to Deputy Ó Caoláin — there are two. The Civil Service modernisation programme, which is the big one, accounts for 28. There is only one for IT, namely, the one I spoke about in my answer to Deputy Kenny. In training and career development there are three. In ICT there are three, seven for the Presidency, seven under the heading e-Cabinet and four that do not fall into any of these categories. Money spent over the period amounted to €2,818,388. Most of these projects would have involved enhancements, improvements and developments.

It is the task of every Department to determine whether it is overusing the system. I hope my Department does not. However, at least there is some focus to the effect that if it happens, it occurs sparingly and under the two categories I have mentioned: either to enhance an existing system or develop a new one; or where an outside appraisal is required. The more internal staff who can do the work the better. My Department is not large, with just over 220 people working in it. However, we try hard not to become involved in consultancies unless something meaningful is required. A fair degree of thought is put into that.

Mr. Rabbitte

The next batch of questions on social partnership is important. The House would not do them justice in the time available, so I had better think of something to ask the Taoiseach about this list.

Does he believe this is the nature of modern government? Even though this does not relate to a line Minister and it is his Department, there are pages and pages of consultancies. Is it unreasonable to expect that some of the work indicated should be discharged by civil servants employed by the State or is this the way of the future? There are literally pages and pages. Some of them are quite mysterious and I have no idea what they are about. Under the Moriarty tribunal heading one finds €50,000 paid to Peter Bacon & Associates for analysis and advice. I do not know what that is about. There are two separate items under the same heading that indicate the supplier is "confidential". I do not know what that is about. There are things such as €50,000 to the London School of Economics, for the provision of a training course on regulation. I do not know what that is. Perhaps the Taoiseach did not pay his fees at the time or something.

I want to ask, in particular, about the parliamentary reply given to the House by the Minister of State with responsibility for transport, Deputy Callely, where he said in respect of the recent advertisements in which he featured so prominently: "The advertisements in question were commissioned by the Dublin Transportation Office as part of a public information campaign——

An Ceann Comhairle

That matter does not arise out of this question which refers specifically to the Department of the Taoiseach.

Mr. Rabbitte

——for Operation Freeflow." I asked the question in terms of the Taoiseach's responsibility for the code of practice for office holders.

An Ceann Comhairle

The matter does not arise out of this question.

Mr. Rabbitte

In a subsequent letter to my colleague, Deputy Shortall, from the Dublin Transportation Office, it is made clear——

An Ceann Comhairle

I would prefer if the Deputy did not pursue that line. It is totally out of order. The Deputy is aware that there are many ways open to him to raise this matter, but not out of this question, which refers specifically to the Department of the Taoiseach.

Mr. Rabbitte

It is clear to the DTO that the Minister of State intruded himself uninvited——

An Ceann Comhairle

I ask the Deputy to resume his seat and allow the Taoiseach to answer his legitimate question.

Mr. Rabbitte

I know that it is unbelievable that the Minister of State might do such a thing. Does the Taoiseach have a view on this?

An Ceann Comhairle

I ask Deputy Rabbitte to resume his seat.

The Taoiseach

As stated, there have been 70 consultancies over the period in my Department and I have given the breakdown. It represents an average of about €300,000 per annum. I have outlined most of the work involved. I do not have the details of some of the smaller projects and have just given the information on the larger ones. However, when the full schedules are available, I shall be pleased to answer questions or get further information as regards individual projects.

Deputy Rabbitte's general point on whether it is now a trend that more consultancies are being employed across Departments is valid. My Department is relatively sparing in this regard. We use consultancies where the expertise is not available within the Department; where something additional is involved, as was the case with the EU Presidency, the change management agenda where someone is brought in to advise, or where an independent assessment is needed, as has happened in only a few cases.

On the Deputy's question as to whether there are more consultancies, with regard to the level, scale and examination of decisions made, whether by the House, Oireachtas committees or the outside world, increasingly, public servants, including those in my Department will consider getting the assessments and the analysis of would-be experts. The Deputy and I might often argue whether they are experts. I detect that people are becoming more protective and are watching what they do to a greater extent than was the case some years ago. Whether that is good is open to debate, but it is happening. It is not that the money is wasted, but the nature of decisions and the fact that we have an increasing number of regulators with whom Departments find themselves in debate mean that Departments must be armed with more sophisticated replies than they believe they can produce. The complexity of our work and its sheer size with the complexity of its examination have led to a different position than has previously been the case.