Vol. 188 No. 1
asked the Minister for Transport and Power the amounts tendered by the contractors who gave the lowest, second lowest and third lowest tender in respect of the installation of electrical equipment at Cork Airport together with the names of the contractors.
22.
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if the contract for electrical equipment at Cork Airport was given to the lowest tender; and, if not, how many tenders were lower than that of the successful contractor; and why the lower tenders were not accepted.
I propose, with the permission of An Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 21 and 22 together.
All the tenders received were considered on their merits. It would be contrary to established practice to disclose particulars of tenders received.
Is it contrary to established procedure to state, in the context of Question 22, whether the tender actually accepted was the lowest?
There is no precedent in my Department for making any statement beyond what I have made.
Was the tender accepted by the Minister's Department or by the Government Contracts Committee?
The tender came before my Department.
And it was not dealt with by the Government Contracts Committee?
Yes.
Was any similar tender ever before dealt with by any body other than the Government Contracts Committee?
The final decision came before my Department.
What precedent had the Minister for that?
Is the Minister not aware that it is standard practice that the allocation of all contracts are dealt with, not by a specific Government Department, but by the Government Contracts Committee, when a contract is over a certain amount?
So far as the construction of Cork Airport is concerned, I have given my reply.
I did not hear the Minister?
So far as the construction of Cork Airport is concerned, I have given my reply. The final decision came before my Department.
We will put down another Question.
