Dáil committee: consultants would save taxpayer billions of euro

THE State needs to hire expensive consultants to handle contracts for public projects, a powerful Dáil committee has said.

Billions of euro of taxpayers’ money is being wasted each year because the civil service does not have the financial acumen of the private sector when it comes to assessing tenders or negotiating contracts, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has said. As a result, the costs of numerous public projects - such as buildings, roads and services - tend to be underestimated. The State ends up paying far more by the time the final bill arrives.

The solution, PAC members believe, is to hire private-sector consultants, who would command lucrative fees, to cost projects and negotiate contracts.