Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
1365. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual cost to her Department of fees paid to private for-profit companies to provide services, such as consultancy work, recruitment services and other outsourced services, for example cleaning, catering and so on; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32713/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, there is an existing requirement for all Government Departments to publish quarterly details of payments totalling in excess of €20,000 to private companies for services each Department procures. mAccordingly, details in respect of my Department's expenditure in excess of € 20,000 on an annualised basis is readily available on my Department's website: http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Corporate-Reports/Payments-Over-20k-/
In relation to the specific areas referred to by the Deputy, below are details of my Department's expenditure from its administrative budget in the three main office locations Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore in 2014. Also below is a list of companies employed for specific consultancy purposes by my Department in 2014.
- Recruitment nil
- Cleaning €121,427.65
- Catering €89,557.05.
In addition, please find below details of expenditure by my Department in 2014 in relation to high-value services common to my Department's main offices:
- Recycling €11,897.84
- Waste Management €23,625.10
- Security €344,739.90.
Details regarding the companies involved are set out below. Details in relation to all consultants engaged by my Department are compiled annually in respect of the previous year and are also set out below.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS - COMPANIES ENGAGED IN CONSULTANCY IN 2014
|
Consultancy |
Purpose of Consultancy |
Total amount paid 2014 incl vat € |
|
Gartner |
Provision of ICT research, advice, guidance and related services to the IT Unit |
42,435.00 |
|
National Council for the Blind (NCBI) Centre for Inclusive Technology (CFIT) |
Accessibility audit of the Department's website |
4,850.00 |
|
MKA (Mitchell Kane Associates) |
Creation of brand guidelines and logo re Springboard, ICT Skills Conversion, Momentum, the Skillnets Jobseekers Programmes, Job Bridge and Jobs Plus |
5,412.00 |
|
Company for Effective Services (CES) |
SUSI Review - Phase 1. Review of the learning gained from the establishment of the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). |
7,000.00 |
|
Centre for Cross Border Studies, Armagh |
Review Paper on Southern Irish Postgraduates in Northern Ireland, to comply with Section 8(5) of the Student Support Act 2011. |
1,845.00 |
|
SIA Management Group |
Consultancy Service provided to MAC in relation to Planning Activities. |
2,892.50 |
|
Grant Thornton |
Specialist expert advice on the application by STS Ltd to adduce new evidence to the Court of Appeal in its appeal of the HC judgement of 23rd October, 2012 |
35,842.20 |
|
Version 1 |
Provision of Oracle Financials consultancy services to support the proof of concept phase of the preparation of the move to the Financial Shared Services Project |
34,557.50 |
|
Deloitte |
New organisational design for ETBs and Solas |
11,623.50 |
|
Deloitte |
Provision of support for the development of the Business Case for ETB Shared Services Payroll Project |
81,549.00 |
|
Deloitte |
Audits of the national agencies for the Lifelong Learning Programme in Ireland to serve as the basis for the submission of Declarations of Assurance to the European commission |
14,975.25 |
|
Deloitte |
Audits of the national agencies for the Erasmus + Programme in Ireland to serve as the basis for the submission of Declarations of the ex ante compliance assessment to the European commission |
10,455.00 |
|
Fitzpatrick & Associates |
Ex Ante Evaluation of the ESF Operational Programme |
53,218.00 |
|
Mazars |
External Auditing Services |
3,195.39 |
|
H2 |
Advice and guidance on the development and implementation of the Digital Strategy for schools. |
33,517.50 |
|
ICS Skills |
As part of the development of the Digital Strategy for schools, the running of focus groups, conducting analysis and summarise the data, and reporting findings |
19,000.00 |
|
Education Research Centre |
The provision of input to ICT census of primary, post-primary, and special schools and analysis of census data |
24,624.00 |
|
Stratigos Ltd |
Business Process Improvement Training (BPI) |
23,899.65 |
|
Institute of Public Administration (IPA) |
Provision of Guidelines relating to best practice approach by managent regarding delegation, meeting and coaching skills. |
2,447.70 |
