asked the Minister for Justice in relation to any public contracts which are in receipt of a financial provision from his Department and which have used copper tubing in the course of construction, whether the material used has been of Irish origin and manufacture or has been imported.
Written Answers. - Copper Tubing.
727.
Limerick East): Public contracts which are in receipt of financial provision from my Department are related to prisons and places of detention. EC rules of competition preclude specification of materials in a manner which discriminates in favour of a particular member state. Moreover, I understand that certain kinds of copper tubing that are in practice required in some such projects are not manufactured at all in the State.
It would not be possible without making a detailed examination of all work done in recent years to establish the precise extent to which copper tubing of non-Irish manufacture may have been used. However, I am informed by the Office of Public Works, which places major contracts on behalf of my Department, that Irish manufactured copper tubing is being used in the construction of the place of detention at Wheatfield, County Dublin, to the extent that it is available and meets the required specification and the same was true of a contract completed last year for the construction of prison service housing in Portlaoise.
As regards maintenance work, copper tubing held in stock for routine non-contract maintenance is of Irish manufacture and copper tubing conforming to Irish Standard 238 is stipulated for use in contracts placed by my Department.