Two Government departments spent €10 million (£7.88 million) last year on external consultants and advisers, according to new figures. The largest beneficiaries were legal, accounting and information technology (IT) firms.

While the expenditure amounts to just a fraction of the budgets at the Department of Finance and Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment, records released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the provision of advice to Government is a very lucrative business.

The Department of Finance paid €4.17 million year to external advisers from its total budget of €85.8 million. The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment paid €5.31 million for outside expertise last year. Its total budget was €846.6 million.

The winner of the largest single contract awarded by the Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment was accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It was paid €1.6 million for work on the Department's IT system. PwC won two other contracts - worth €257,564 - at the Department last year. The firm also won large contracts at the Department of Finance. PwC was also paid €139,920 for a report presented to a Cabinet committee on infrastructure and public-private partnerships.

In the 2001 Budget Estimates prepared in November 2000, the Department of Finance projected expenditure of just more than €3 million on consultants. That figure was revised upwards last February to include work required to prepare legislation on the establishment of Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The field was new, a source said, requiring a large amount of detailed work.

Thus the largest single payment made by the Department of Finance was to the law firm A&L Goodbody, which received €1.55 million for legal services in the drafting of legislation to set up the new body. The firm was also paid €155,783 for advice on the sale of ACC Bank to Rabobank.

Government Departments recruit external advisers and consultants when qualified civil servants are not available internally.

According to one informed person, the cost of hiring consultants is often measured against the expense of recruiting permanent staff and keeping them for 40 years. He said: "In a lot of areas, the case would tend to be that the expertise was not available within the Civil Service."

Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche was a another major beneficiary of contracts awarded by the two Departments. It won five contracts at the Department of Finance and four at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment.

At the Department of Finance, the payments to Deloitte & Touche comprised: €165,790 for assistance in the competitive process to award the National Lottery licence; €145,683 for assistance in monitoring euro changeover preparations; €145,323 in the management information area; €98,461 for work on travel policy; and €35,045 for advice on the selection of computer software;

Deloitte & Touche was paid €733,324 for system development work at the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment. It received €197,714 for work on a management information framework and it was also paid €203,034 for "remedial work" on the Department's internal euro changeover project. In addition, it received €93,793 for audit work.

Other winners of large contracts awarded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment included Sword Ltd, a computer firm. It was paid €481,330 for systems development work and €137,229 for work on the IT system in the Patents Office.

Other large payments by the Department of Finance included €584,466 to the law firm McCann FitzGerald and to the bank ABN Amro for work on the sale of TSB Bank to Irish Life & Permanent. Accounting firm Arthur Anderson were paid €52,641 and law firm Arthur Cox was paid €35,424 for work on the same sale.

The Department paid Adept Creative Services and All-Ireland Media €292,548 for advertising design and media buying on the euro changeover project. It also paid Carr Communications €117,234 for public relations work on the changeover project.

The Department of Finance also paid Curtin Communications €98,461 for public relations work on the National Development Plan local media initiative.