Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2013
148. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the level of expenditure spent on consultants and contractors at a national state agency (details supplied), in particular that more than €200,000 has reportedly been spent on efficiency consultants and where retired senior managers have repeatedly been brought back as highly paid consultants. [23520/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraProcurement issues are a day-to-day matter for the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).
However, I have been advised by the NSAI that its procurement policy complies with competitive tendering requirements, as outlined in the Public Procurement Guidelines Competitive Process (2004), State Bodies Guidelines and EU Regulations. NSAI use sub-contractors on a limited basis to address capacity and skills gaps, which may arise as part of their contracted Certification activities.
As previously outlined in response to PQ No 97 (Ref: 7664/13) on 13 February 2013, over the past five years, a total of 14 staff members (including 1 senior manager), who were qualified Certification Officers, have retired from NSAI.
Five of these Certification Officers (including the senior manager), were subsequently placed through an open tendering process, on a panel of 28 subcontractors NSAI use to carry out Certification duties, as required. In 2012, these 5 former employees were sub-contracted to undertake certification activities at a total cost of €86,990.
This outsourcing arrangement is in line with the Principles set down in the Appendix to Chapter 1 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) relating to Service Delivery Options. All matters in relation to Public Service Pension Abatement rules are also adhered to.
The staff numbers of NSAI have reduced from 200 in 2008, to 154 at the end of 2012, a 23% reduction, with a further 11% anticipated under the current Employment Control Framework (ECF). A tender for a call down of LEAN Business Training and Consultancy services has just been completed by NSAI covering the period 2013 – 2015 to streamline processes and enable the organisation cope with the magnitude of these staff reductions. No money to date has been spent on this streamlining project.
