THE DEPARTMENT OF Finance has set aside an extra €5 million for consultants for 2014.
The Minister for Finance disclosed the figure at today’s Select Subcommittee on Finance today.
Michael Noonan said that the consultants were akin to “painters”, explaining to Richard Boyd Barrett that permanent painters are not employed in a home, rather taken on as needed.
That explanation didn’t satisfy Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty, however.
“These figures are totally unjustifiable. Minister Noonan failed miserably to explain what this extra €5.075m will be spent on and who will benefit.”
Doherty said that “the same few” companies would benefit from the extra funding, adding that an explanation was needed.
“The public are rightly questioning the use of external consultants given the debacle at Irish Water. For an important government like the Department of Finance to seek an extra €5.075m for consultants without proper explanation of what the money will be used for is unacceptable.”
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