Government was yesterday called on to explain why it has budgeted an extra $8 million this year for external consultants in the Ministry of Works and Engineering and Housing.

Opposition MPs in the House of Assembly demanded to know why the consultants were needed, where they were coming from and how much it was costing to hire them.

Shadow Works Minister said: ?There is an increase in professional services of over 167 percent. To what extent are consultants being hired and what for and if they are coming here to perform a function, what are they going to do? When are they going to be finished??

He added: ?How much is it going to cost and are they going to stand by the quality of work??

Opposition Deputy Leader said: ?It?s not an unreasonable question for Bermuda to know why we are spending an additional $8 million on consultants. God knows how much we are spending on consultants Government-wide.

?To put it in context we are spending almost one third of the money set aside for housing for extra consultants.?

Government Whip Ottiwell Simmons said: ?We take on consultants when required. These consultants may be from overseas or they may be Bermudians.?

And Finance Minister Paula Cox added: ?Consultants are employed because they are specialist experts.?