Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2020
136. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Finance the amount spent on external consultants by his Department in 2019; the average hourly rate; if caps or limits on such spending are in place; the way in which conflicts of interest are managed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7281/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department agrees an operational budget each year during the estimates process, this includes an allocation for consultancy expenditure.
Information on consultancy expenditure is regularly published on my Department's website, most recently for Q1 2020.
The amount my Department has spent on external consultants in 2019 is contained in the following table.
Where hourly rates have been charged, these are considered commercially sensitive, and therefore my Department is not in a position to make this information available.
In terms of the management of conflicts of interest, declaration forms are issued to Evaluation Committee members in advance of all tender evaluations taking place. Evaluators are required to declare that they are not aware of any actual or potential conflict of interest with any of the bidders that have submitted tender responses. Any existing conflicts of interest and/or new conflicts of interest that arise during the term of the contract, must be immediately disclosed to the Department’s Compliance Officer.
|
Provider |
Description |
Payment YTD 2019* (€ or €eq.) |
|
Indecon |
Economic Consultancy |
€530,205.03 |
|
William Fry |
Legal Advice |
€389,775.92 |
|
Fitzpatrick Associates |
SME Credit Demand Survey |
€147,477.00 |
|
Merc Partners |
Recruitment Consultancy |
€69,966.26 |
|
Public Appointments Service |
Board Recruitment |
€46,022.50 |
|
Arthur Cox |
Legal Advice |
€38,507.63 |
|
Daniel J. Edelman Ireland Ltd |
Provision of specialist advice on using social media in overseas markets to promote Ireland for Finance |
€24,395.00 |
|
Grant Thornton Consulting Ltd |
A review of the business model of the Department’s in-house Print Room service, with recommendations for a future model of service delivery and opportunities for improvement. |
€23,985.00 |
|
Central Bank of Ireland |
Financial Stability Group’s work on systemic crisis management in 2018 |
€16,810.00 |
|
Europus |
Translation Services |
€334.31 |
|
Total |
|
€1,287,478.65 |
