The Department of Public Expenditure is to pay up to €8,500 a month for consultancy services trying to encourage public support for the State’s multibillion euro infrastructure plan. News of the short-term contract, which was signed off by public expenditure officials against a backdrop of renewed emphasis on spending discipline by the department, was greeted with surprise by some Government sources. A spokesman for the department confirmed that it had commissioned “independent analysis and research support” from an outside consultancy called Common Good, which was cofounded by a former senior Government communications official. The department refused to confirm the length of the contract or its value, citing commercial sensitivity, but it is understood that the contract is for up to three months and will be worth up to €25,000. The department said it was agreed after a formal request for quotes was issued to multiple companies, and the winning bid was to the firm which placed highest in the evaluation of submissions received. The spokesman said the firm would help in “building leadership support for critical infrastructure projects”, in “enhancing government communications to promote the importance of infrastructure delivery” and developing a “benefits realisation framework”. News of the contract award led to surprise among some in Government, and there is behind-the-scenes criticism of the decision to plough ahead with the agreement – with some Coalition figures suggesting there is sufficient expertise within the Civil Service. There is also a concern that there will be a low threshold of public acceptance of outsourcing this kind of work.[ Ministers face new budget curbs in overspending crackdownOpens in new window ]Common Good did not respond to a request for comment on Friday evening. It comes as senior ministers and officials are facing a crackdown on spending discipline by the Department of Public Expenditure which has sparked private criticism of that department and its Minister, Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers. “If some other department did that, DPER [Public Expenditure and Reform] would crucify them,” said one Government source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Earlier this week, Chambers briefed Cabinet on plans to introduce new spending discipline measures on departments that overrun their budget – while last week the Government agreed to place a levy of almost €450 million on departments to backfill a funding shortfall in the Department of Education. Following that Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, one Minister complained of “diktats” being handed down by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which they said were “going down like a lead balloon”.Ministers feel they are being unfairly made to pay for spending overruns in other departments, although Chambers is understood to have support from Coalition leaders, and Cabinet has already agreed the levy measure, meaning it will go ahead despite the private resentment of some ministers. [ Chambers tries to play bad cop on spending while corporate tax receipts flow inOpens in new window ]The Government has committed to a medium-term fiscal framework, which is submitted to Brussels and which binds spending to annual limits. The Coalition has committed to limiting spending growth to 6 per cent per year, but Chambers briefed Cabinet on Tuesday that this was already running ahead of that limit, at 8.9 per cent this year so far. Under the plan Cabinet was briefed on this week, departments that exceed their budget could see new oversight groups – staffed by officials from Chambers’s department – brought in to supervise them.Chambers could also refuse to support memos to Government from over-spending departments, or withhold sanction for spending decisions normally delegated to the department in question.