299. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the name, costs, date of commission, date or expected date of publication and name of the external consultant associated with all external reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011. [3768/16]

The Department is responsible for two Votes – Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation).

My Department commissions external expertise where highly specialised skills are not available within the Department and in particular where ongoing independent evaluation of programmes and projects is required. During the course of their engagements, these consultants/experts may prepare reports and other documentation for the Department.

In-depth analysis of issues by external experts has informed - and continues to inform - my Department’s policies, allowing for a more targeted use of resources and greater accountability in the allocation of budgets.

These services are procured by open competitive tendering processes in accordance with EU and national rules and comply with the overall value for money objective of the Department.

Separately, a low number of consultancies are occasionally engaged directly by our Missions abroad from time to time.

The following table sets out the requested details of external reports commissioned by the Department since March 2011.

*This report commissioned by the Department is an internal management report and not for publication.