Vol. 508 No. 4
89 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if the process of consultation with the Office of the Attorney General in regard to the implementation of EU directives on open contracting in respect of payable orders of his Department has been concluded; if so, if he has sent a notice of his conclusions to the European Commission on the matter; and, if so, the response, if any, received. [17470/99]
The contract between my Department and An Post under which certain social welfare payments are delivered at post offices will reach the end of its current term in December next. The Government decided in May 1999 to extend the term of this contract for an additional period of three years, 2000 to 2002, inclusive. This decision was taken in the context of advice from the Attorney General regarding the application of EU law to this procurement.
Following the Government decision, my Department consulted the Office of the Attorney General about a number of matters of a technical nature concerning this procurement.
My Department is currently in negotiations with An Post regarding the detailed business terms and conditions which will apply to this business arrangement during the period of the extension to which I have just referred. I expect that this process will be completed shortly. Further legal advice will be obtained if additional issues of a legal nature arise from this process.
Questions relating to the application of EU directives are for national governments to determine in the first instance. For this reason, my Department has not issued to the EU Commission any notice of the kind referred to by the Deputy.
