Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform Seán Fleming TD has expressed concern at the level of consultancy spend by Minister James Reilly over the last 18 months. The Minister has clocked up almost €2M on various external consultancies.
Deputy Fleming said: “I was genuinely shocked to receive an answer to a Parliamentary Question showing that Minister Reilly has clocked up €2M in outside consultancy spend in just 18 months on 47 different reports. This is in addition to one of the highest paid teams of advisers in Government. The Minister was among the most vocal critics of the use of external management consultants and reports in the Department of Health when he was travelling the country promising every community that he would deliver whatever they wanted. However, Minister James Reilly is a very different beast from the Opposition Deputy Reilly who had a simple answer for everything.
“I want to know from the Minister has he even read the reports that this consultancy spend has generated and what action has been taken on foot of them.
“The Minister’s complete inability to manage his budget has been well commented on at this stage. The revelation that while the internal budget was spiralling out of control, the Minister was spending millions on additional external consultants further underlines the failure of leadership at the top of the Department of Health.”