FG: Taxpayers’ millions wasted on Government advisers
So far this year, the Taoiseach’s department spent just over €700,000 on consultancy fees, while almost €900,000 is paid out annually to special advisers.
The highest consultancy payout from the Taoiseach’s office, costing €306,281, went to the Economist Intelligence Unit, to compare the performance of Irish regulators against their international counterparts.
A total of €108,182 was spent on media relations consultancy.
The Department of Justice spent more than €7 million on consultancy fees in the past four years.
The pay-out peaked in 2005 at €3.1m, falling to €1.3m so far this year.
The Department of Health paid out more than €7m last year in consultancy fees — up almost €6m on the previous year.
The biggest cost last year was the National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland, undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute, costing almost €5m.
The department estimates it will spend at least more than €7.2m on various studies, reports and consultants this year.
At a time when people have been asked to do their “patriotic duty” and contribute even more to the state coffers, Fine Gael chief whip Paul Kehoe said he was “absolutely amazed” at figures he had received in relation to spending on consultants and special advisers.
He accused the Government of being incapable of making a decision without hiring expensive consultancy firms to back them up.
“The government has a raft of highly-paid civil servants to refer to, but when a decision needs to be made they have to consult an outsider,” he said.
“No-one wants to take responsibility and make the decision.”
Mr Kehoe said government departments had not looked at this source of spending to make cutbacks.
“At a time when the Government is talking about cutting back on public spending, it amazes me how much departments are spending on spin doctors and consultants,” he said.
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