I propose to take Questions Nos. 441 and 442 together.
Since my Department was established on 2 June 2011, a total of €4,120 has been expended on external IT consultancy. This total is comprised of expenditure for the assessment of a Wide-Area-Networks procurement in 2012 and the assessment of Firewall systems in 2014. In both instances, it was considered advisable to seek external network-market expertise to accord with best practice for this type of technical procurement.
My Department does not retain an external IT consultant on an ongoing contractual basis but instead procures the required services as and when required.