TD queries €3.5m spending in just one year on consultants

THE Taoiseach has been called on to clarify why one department spent €3.5million on private consultancy work in 2017.

Speaking i n the Dáil yesterday afternoon, Independent TD Mattie McGrath described the list of costs incurred by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last year as ‘extraordinary’.

The consultancy fees of the department included over €1.5million paid to accounting firm Deloitte.

Just under €250,000 was paid to the Horizon Energy Group for ‘strategic advice’, while another €216,000 went to auditing firm KPMG.

A further payment of €182,000 was made for research and advisory services to the Gartner company, while strategic advice firm Accenture received €100,000.

Mr McGrath said that these figures raise ‘ serious questions’ for the Government.

‘What is alarming to me is the stark contrast between those costs and the entire budget that has been made available to local and rural communities to install and run CCTV crime-prevention schemes. That scheme’s entire budget is just €3million,’ he said.

‘Not only is that a pathetic amount for a national scheme, but we now know for a fact that it is half a million euro less than what the department of expenditure paid to private consultants in just one year.’

A spokesman for the department last night told the Irish Daily Mail that every effort is made to limit the use of consultancies where possible.

‘It should be noted that the complex nature of the department’s work in recent years in leading major reform programmes, such as the rollout of the National Shared Services Office, means that it is necessary to bring in external expertise from time to time,’ he said.

The spokesman added that all contracts are negotiated to achieve the best possible value for money.