Government forking out €1.7m each week on consultants
PRIVATE consultants are being paid €1.7m a week out of the Government's dwindling coffers, an Irish Independent investigation has found.
As the Government comes under mounting criticism for needlessly wasting taxpayers' money, new figures reveal it will fork out almost €90m on private consultants this year alone.
The 15 government departments and 19 related State bodies are on target to spend a total of €158.5m on private consultants in 2007 and 2008.
Some individual consultants were paid up to €2,000 per day to dispense advice to government departments and other State agencies.
Expenditure
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show departmental expenditure alone topped €63.5m in just a year-and-a-half.
Controversially, more than €10.1m of this was spent on public sector marketing, advertising and public relations firms, despite the fact the Government already has an army of in-house advisers and spin doctors at its disposal.
The Irish Independent has also learned that the Government has been unable to justify making similar outlays again next year.
Plans are now being put in place to slash spending on private consultants by up to €45m in 2009 as the country's economic crisis deepens.
- Shane Phelan Investigative Correspondent
