Vol. 432 No. 2
72 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Welfare the degree to which Irish manufactured office supplies and equipment, including computer supplies, are provided to his Department or to offices the estimate for which falls within his group; the extent to which such requirements are met by overseas manufacturers where Irish alternatives exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Department of Social Welfare, as is the case for all State agencies, is bound by general Civil Service procurement procedures relating to competitive tendering. These are set out in guidelines issued by the Department of Finance and the Government Contracts Committee, and comply with EC Directives. These guidelines require that all purchases are completed by way of competitive tender.
In this context the Department invites tenders from a range of suppliers in relation to all goods and services required. In the case of goods below the EC threshold of ECU130,000, IR£104,192, the Department invites tenders from Irish suppliers. Where goods or services exceed the EC threshold, an advertisement is placed in the Official Journal of the EC as required under the European Directive on Public Procurement. Subject to compliance with EC and other rules, where possible the Department generally places orders with Irish based suppliers. This is particularly the case where the equipment is used for critical payment operations and therefore there is a requirement for comprehensive and speedy local support.
In practice goods and services purchased by my Department are almost exclusively sourced from Irish suppliers. However, given the nature of modern manufacturing processes, goods sourced in Ireland may have components manufactured in other countries.
