Government to cut its 'massive' spend on external consultants by using 'central pool of expertise'

It is estimated that the top 10 consultancy firms in Ireland have been paid over €2bn by the Government over the last 13 years

Minister for public expenditure Jack Chambers said use of consultancy across Government for project delivery is adding 'cost, delay and significant fragmentation'. File photo: Brian Lawless/PA

The Government will cut down on its “massive” spend on external consultants by using experts from the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), the public expenditure minister has said.

Jack Chambers said use of consultancy across Government for project delivery is adding “cost, delay and significant fragmentation”.

“We’ve a massive consultancy spend across Government, all very fragmented, brought in on an ad-hoc basis and often brought in at different parts of the project life cycle,” said Mr Chambers.

He admitted there may still be an element of consultancy spend across departments, but said having a “central pool of expertise” would see the overall spend fall.

“Having consistency in the application of project delivery across Government is something that moves away from the fragmented nature of consultancy spend today,” he said.

“We expect with that central expertise being built up within Government, it will reduce the dependence on external consultancy in one instance, but also bring consistency across infrastructure projects.”

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Mr Chambers said the move is in line with other European countries who deliver large infrastructure projects, including Germany, France and the UK.

A payment tracker, developed by Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan, estimates that the top 10 consultancy firms in Ireland have been paid over €2bn by the Government for their services over the last 13 years.

On wider reforms, the public expenditure minister said the Government would be removing “current layers and decision points” from the process of developing infrastructure projects.

He said this would remove the need for additional consultancy services.

Mr Chambers said with the Government due to spend €275bn on infrastructure over the next 10 years, relying on ad hoc consultancy services is not a good option. He said not every infrastructure project would use the experts at the NDFA.

Tánaiste Simon Harris said the main challenge for Ireland is not around the funding of major projects, but ensuring they are delivered in a speedier, more efficient manner.

“We can point to lots of different things around the system that need to change, but we also need to be willing to look inwards as well and see what can we do within our own systems to make sure that we pool expertise and make sure that we bring about the reforms,” Mr Harris said.

Cabinet approval

The change to the NDFA was formally approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, having been recommended as part of the Government’s Accelerating Infrastructure action plan, which was published in December.

Ministers were told at Cabinet that the change to centralise expertise could help cut down on development timelines on major projects by as much as 12 months.

It is expected that the redevelopment of the GPO and the National Concert Hall will be the first projects to use the NDFA expertise.

Ministerial guidelines will be issued to every department by Mr Chambers, with departments asked to identify suitable projects that could benefit from the new service.