Vol. 485 No. 2
338 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number and identity of all contracts in excess of £300,000 awarded by his office or other bodies under the aegis of his Department from the period 30 June 1997 to date; whether these contracts were awarded by public tender or otherwise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23141/97]
A contract with Fitzpatrick Associates to serve as external evaluator for the operational programme for tourism was renewed by the monitoring committee in November 1997. The initial contract, which was renewable on an annual basis was awarded by public tender.
A contract with a consortium led by Goodbody Economic Consultants for the external evaluation of the Operational Programme for Local Urban and Rural Development, 1994-99 was also renewed by the monitoring committee in July 1997. The initial contract, which was again renewable on an annual basis was awarded by public tender.
The renewal of both these contracts was approved by the Government contracts committee.
The PA Consulting Group have recently been appointed to facilitate and assist in the preparation of my Department's strategic management statement. This contract was awarded in accordance with public procurement procedures and received the approval of the Government contracts committee.
Also since 30 June Mr. Pádraig Ó hUiginn was appointed by me as consultant, under contract, to advise on policy aspects relating to the work of my Department and Mr. Bart Cronin was appointed as consultant, under contract to handle press and information matters in my Department. These contracts were not put out to public tender. The awarding of contracts in the bodies under the aegis of my Department is a day-to-day matter for the agencies themselves.
