1021. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the expenditure incurred by his Government Department on external consultancy services in each of the past five years, broken down by consultancy firm, project and amount paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61343/26]

The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has a dedicated administrative allocation (under AD7 of the Estimates) for policy reviews, consultancy services and research. This budget provides funding for the engagement of external consultants to provide intellectual or knowledge-based services (for example, expert analysis and advice) through delivering reports, studies, assessments, recommendations or proposals that benefit the decision or policy making processes in the department. This work supports our mission to drive a competitive, resilient and sustainable economy that supports enterprise, tourism and employment across all of Ireland’s regions.

All projects under the AD7 Budget are considered from a cost benefit and capacity perspective by the department's Consultancy and Research Advisory Committee and approved by the Management Board. The department complies with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation’s guidelines for engagements of consultants by the civil service, having regard to public procurement guidelines.

The amounts paid for the consultancy under AD7 past five years are listed in the table by consultancy firm, project and amount paid. For the sake of completeness ICT advisory/consultancy costs have also been included in the tables.

Consultancy Payments 2021-2026