The Government intends to spend an extra €1.5 million on consultants next year, despite its promise to introduce tighter controls on such spending, writes Joe Humphreys
In the 2006 Estimates published yesterday, almost €60 million has been allocated to consultancy services in a range of State agencies and departments.
An additional €65 million has been allocated to the Health Service Executive for its consultant-led information systems projects. This is despite a recent promise from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, for better management and tighter controls on consultancy spending after the PPARs computer debacle.
The €65 million for health service technology represents no rise on 2005. Spending on such services in the Department of Health is also unchanged at €1.2 million.
Other departments will cut this spending, however, including the Department of the Taoiseach, by €28,000 or 10 per cent, and the Office of the Minister for Finance, by €588,000 or 21 per cent.
The biggest saving is being made in the Department of Agriculture and Food, which will trim consultancy spending by 58 per cent to €4.8 million.
The Central Statistics Office is also making a major saving of €1.4 million, a 36 per cent drop on 2005. But this is eroded by a rise in consultancy spending of 59 per cent, or €9.7 million, in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
Consultancy spending is also increasing in: Transport by 1 per cent to €1.76 million; Enterprise, Trade and Employment by 3 per cent to €627,000; Defence by 3 per cent to €31,000; Communications, Marine and Natural Resources by 1 per cent to €3.7 million; Education and Science by 6 per cent to €400,000; and Environment, Heritage and Local Government by 6 per cent to €495,000.
Arts, Sport and Tourism is dropping its outlay on consultants by 8 per cent to €469,000; and Social and Family Affairs by 1 per cent to €7.93 million.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is lowering its consultancy spending by 36 per cent to €900,000 but such expenditure is rising by 3 per cent to €1.55 million in the area of international co-operation.
Aside from allocating €58.4 million to consultancy services, the Government has earmarked €6.7 million for "consultancy and legal fees" for the Office of Comptroller and Auditor General, Office of the Ombudsman, and Chief State Solicitor. This represents a drop of €79,000 on 2005 in this category.
Calls for tighter controls on such spending coincided with the disclosure last month that the firm at the centre of the PPARs debacle, Deloitte, was earning more than €1 million a month on the contract since the start of 2005.