Vol. 481 No. 5
45 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the consultants, if any, he has commissioned to carry out work for his Department since he took office; and if so, the individual nature and cost of these commissions. [16491/97]
From time to time, the Department engages external assistance to provide expert technical advice of a specialised nature, to supplement existing resources and to provide strategic advice. Typically, consultancy assignments from my Department are in respect of computer systems development, policy development and the assessment and evaluation of schemes.
A budget for consultancy services which outlines the consulting projects which the Department for business reasons proposes to undertake is agreed annually as part of the Estimates process. When agreed, there are established procedures operated at official level by the Deparment for the engagement of consultants for those projects.
Two consultancies have been commissioned by my Department since I took office. Both of these were awarded to Goodbody economic consultants.
The first is a review of the incentive effects of secondary welfare benefits on people considering whether to remain in or take up employment. The cost of the review is expected to be £25,865. The second study is a review of the efficiency and effectiveness of the school meals scheme. The cost of this review is expected to be approximately £10,500.
