Departmental Contracts

Tuesday, 14 October 2025

Questions (552)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

552. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide a list of all studies, research and reports commissioned by his Department that were outsourced, in each of the past five years, in tabular form; the names of the companies to which each study, research and report was outsourced; the total cost for each; the number of reports finalised and presented to him that have yet to be released by his Department; the dates on which any such reports yet to be released were first provided to him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55157/25]

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Written answers

Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport

It should be noted that my Department was re-configured as the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport at the beginning of June 2025. The information sought by the Deputy for the past five years in respect of the current functions under the remit of my Department is specified in the table below.

Outsourced companies 5 y

Year	Title of study/ research/ report	Contracted Company	Total Cost (incl. VAT)	Note
2020	Review and Analysis of ICT at the National Archives	Unity	€24,354	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister
2020	Report on the impact on the staff and the National Concert Hall of staff transferring from the RTÉ Pension Schemes to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme	Trident Consulting	€12,100	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister
2020	Interim Review of Creative Communities	M-CO	Part of a wider contract on ‘Policy and Advice and Research’. For 2020 M-CO was paid a total amount of €73,434 for all work under this wider contract in 2020.	Presented to the Minister and published in December 2020.
2020	Mohan, G., McCoy, S., Carroll, E., Mihut, G., Lyons, S., & Mac Domhnaill, C. (2020). ‘Learning for all? Second-Level Education in Ireland during COVID-19’	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in June 2020.
2020	Carthy, P., Lunn, P. and Lyons, S (2020) Demographic variation in active consumer behaviour: On-line search for retail broadband services.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in July 2020.
2020	Dempsey, S., Lyons, S. and McCoy, S. (2020) Early mobile phone ownership: Influencing the wellbeing of girls and boys in Ireland? Journal of Children and Media, 14 (4), 2020.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in February 2020.
2021	Mohan, G., (2021) Magnifying inequality? Home learning environments and social reproduction during school closures in Ireland.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in May 2021.
2021	Mac Domhnaill, C., Mohan, G and McCoy, S. (2021). Home broadband and student engagement during COVID-19 emergency remote teaching.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in November 2021.
2021	Public Services Review	McKenzie Rogers Consulting Ltd	€30,730	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister.
2021	Stakeholder Forum Report	Olwen Dawe	€5,996	Presented to the Minister in 2022. Report not published.
2021	High-level economic appraisal and strategic analysis of hosting the America’s Cup in Ireland	Ernst & Young	€122,994	Presented to the Minister on 11 March 2022. Not published.
2021* *Commissioned in November 2020. Finalised in 2021.	Emergency Call Answering Service Process & Technology Review	BearingPoint Ireland	€76,875	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister.
2021	A Systematic Review of Outcomes and Trends across the Creative Youth Plan 2017 – 2022	Trinity College Dublin	€123,803	Presented to the Minister in March 2024. Published in April 2024.
2021	Creative C-Change – Analysing the impact of the Creative Climate Action initiative on Climate Change Awareness, Engagement and Action in Ireland	MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, University College Cork	€110,134	Published in May 2023.
2022	Observation of selection process for the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme	Ernst & Young	€18,239	Published in 2023.
2022	Overview Report Night Time Economy Activation Workshop	Irish Business Intelligence	€4,151	Workshop report not intended for publication.
2022	Overview Report Night Time Economy Taskforce Youth Focus Groups	Irish Business Intelligence	€4,742	Report not intended for publication, presented to Minister in March 2023.
2022	Creative Communities Economic Action Fund - Synthesis Report 2022	M-CO	Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2022, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,751 for all work under this wider contract for in 2022.	Published in Q2 2023.
2022	Griffin, M, Lyons, S., Mohan, G. et al. (2022) Intra-operator mobile plan switching: Evidence from linked survey and billing microdata.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in March 2022.
2022	Mohan, G. and Lyons, S. (2022) High-speed broadband availability, Internet activity among older people, quality of life and loneliness.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in June 2022.
2022	Duggan, B. and Mohan, G (2022) A longitudinal examination of young people’s gambling behaviours and participation in team sports.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published December 2022.
2022	Comparator Analysis of International Archival Legislation	Mastermind Ireland t/a Archives Ireland	€15,375	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister
2022	Report of the Expert Group on an Individual Complaints Mechanism.	YCD Limited Yellowstone (for design of the report).	€1,906	Published in 2022.
2022	External Assurance Process (EAP) to review the Preliminary Business Case for the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall.	PwC	€60,885	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presented to Minister in 2023.
2022	Recommendation of options to inform seabed levy charging framework(s) for the subsea telecommunications sector.	PwC	€30,627	Not intended for publication. Submitted to Minister of State on 12 July 2023.
2022/2023	Provision of Operational Management Advisory Services for the National Postcode Systems	PwC	€193,218	Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister
2023/2024	External Assurance Process (EAP) to review the Preliminary Business Case for the redevelopment of the Abbey Theatre	PwC	€90,474	Not intended for publication or presentation to the Minister
2023	O’Reilly, C and Mohan, G. (2023) Parental influences on excessive Internet use among adolescents.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in May 2023.
2023	Mohan, G (2023) Characteristics and behaviours of young people who meet online contacts face-to-face	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in August 2023.
2023	Mao, L., Mohan, G., and Normand, C. (2023) Use of Information Communication Technologies by older people and telemedicine adoption during COVID-19: a longitudinal study	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in August 2023.
2023	Review of Operation of National Digital Research Centre since 2020	Indecon International Consultants	€49,555	Published on the Gov.ie website since 16 December 2024.
2023	Workshop summary prepared as part of ongoing cultural policy development.	Noeleen Hartigan	€6,273	Internal working document, not intended for publication. Report was provided to the Minister in June 2023.
2023	Independent Review of Governance and Culture in RTÉ	Independent Expert Advisory Committee supported by Crowe Advisory Ireland Ltd, McCann Fitzgerald (legal advisors), DCU (translation services), and a graphic designer (self-employed, not incorporated as a company)	€328,063	Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024.
2023	Independent Review of Contractor Fees, HR and other matters in RTÉ	Independent Expert Advisory Committee supported by Crowe Advisory Ireland Ltd, McCann Fitzgerald (legal advisors), DCU (translation services), and a graphic designer (self-employed, not incorporated as a company)	€532,092	Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024.
2023	Examine the books or other records of account of RTÉ as provided for under Section 109 (7)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 2009	Mazars	€286,160	Presented to Minister on 26 April 2024. Published on 7 May 2024.
2023	Creative Communities Economic Action Fund 2023: Report	M-CO	Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2023, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,987for all work under this wider contract in 2023.	Published in May 2024.
2023	Evaluation of Creative Communities 3 years of data, 4 data sets being analysed	M-CO	Part of wider contract on ‘Policy and Advice and Research’. For 2023, M-CO was paid a total amount of €201,987 for all work under this wider contract in 2023.	To be published in Q1 2026.
2023	Creative Activity in the Ageing Population, Findings from Wave 6	The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin	€142,867	Published in June 2023.
2024	‘Women’s Stories: Best Practice in Policy and Curatorial for National Cultural Institutions, National Collections and Partners.’	Curran Watson & Associates Ltd, T/A CHL & Associates	€26,076	To be published in due course following presentation to Minister.
2024	Kren, J., & Lawless, M. (2024). Firm-level attitudes and actions to the “Twin Transition” challenges of digitalisation and climate change.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in 2024.
2024	Siedschlag, I., Mohan, G., & Yan, W. (2024). Twin transitions across enterprises: Do digital technologies and sustainability go together?	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in November 2024.
2024	Dempsey, S., & Hoy, A. (2024). Exacerbating the divide? Investigating rural inequalities in high speed broadband availability.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in July 2024.
2024	Review of the Department’s Arrangements for the Oversight of State Bodies. Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.	Institute of Public Administration	€20,295	Published on 24 March 2025.
2024	Digital Preservation Infrastructure Analysis	Chaucer Group	€172,105	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presented to Minister.
2024	Basic Income for the Arts: Preliminary Results	Prof Michael King	€37,000	Was not presented to Minister or intended for publication.
2024	Basic Income for the Arts qualitative report	Dr Jenny Dagg	€21,740 (excl. VAT)	Published in 2025.
2024	Output Report on the Section 481 Stakeholder Forum	The Brave Lab Ltd	€7,380	Published in October 2025.
2024	Report of the Night-Time Economy Accessibility Survey	Ireland Thinks	€18,450	To be published in due course following presentation to Minister.
2024	Review of the Night-Time Economy Pilots	Communiqué International	€30,088	To be published in due course following presentation to Minister.
2024	Review of Designation of Events of Major Importance to Society under Broadcasting Act 2009	Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consultants	€116,210	Submitted to Department November 2024. Review was technical independent analysis to support statutory review of major events and not intended for publication.
2024	International Connectivity Assessment, includes four sub-reports: Demand Assessment, Gap Analysis, Market Failure and Capacity Analysis	PwC	€623,667	Reports published at the time of the Consultation on International Connectivity for Telecommunications on 31 May 2024.
2024	Interim evaluation report on the National Broadband Plan	Ernst and Young	€259,638	Report presented to Minister circa July 2024. Report published on 4 November 2024
2024	• Creative Climate Change II – Evaluating the Impact of the Creative Climate Action Fund II: Agents of Change on Climate Action Engagement, Action and Behaviour Change in Ireland – Report Year 1 • Creative Climate Change II – Evaluating the Impact of the Creative Climate Action Fund II: Agents of Change on Climate Action Engagement, Action and Behaviour Change in Ireland – Policy Brief • Creative Climate Change II – Evaluating the Impact of the Creative Climate Action Fund II: Agents of Change on Climate Action Engagement, Action and Behaviour Change in Ireland – Report Year 2	MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, University College Cork	€311,200	• Published in May 2025 Published in May 2025 Ongoing. Due to be published in Q2 2026
2024	Designing schools as creative, collaborative learning spaces.	The Irish Architecture Foundation	€50,000	Ongoing. Not yet published.
2024	Evaluation of the Creative Ireland Live Music in Nursing Homes Scheme	M-CO	Part of wider contract on ‘Policy Advice and Research’. For 2024, M-CO was paid a total amount of €220,294 for all work under this wider contract in 2024.	Published in December 2024.
2025	Evaluation of the Creative Youth Nurture Fund	M-CO	Part of the wider contract on policy advice and research’. For 2025, M-CO has been paid a total amount of €163,899 to date for all work under this wider contract in 2025.	Due to be published in Q4 2025.
2025	Mohan, G. (2025). Kid gamers to adult gamblers? An investigation of gaming in childhood and young adult gambling.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in April 2025.
2025	McHugh, E., & Connolly, S. (2025). Remote consultations in general practice in Ireland: Who is missing out?	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in April 2025.
2025	Griffin, M., Mohan, G., McCoy, S., & Lyons, S. (2025). Who says school provides computer skills. Early ICT exposure and later skill perceptions–evidence from school and home environments in Ireland.	ESRI	Part of €100k p.a. contract	Published in May 2025.
2025	Basic Income for the Arts cost-benefit analysis	Alma Economics	€69,300	Published in 2025.
2025	Eircode Transition programme – review of operational costs report	PwC	€27,060	Internal technical document. Not intended for publication or presentation to Minister.
2025	Expert Advisory Committee's Independent Review of the Governance and Organisational Culture of The Arts Council of Ireland	Independent Expert Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister.	Ongoing	Review is still ongoing. Report will be presented to the Minister on completion of the EAC review.