Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 November 2008
531 Deputy Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if, in the interest of reducing paper use, his Department has plans to relax or drop the requirement to supply three or more hard copies of tender documentation and to move towards greater use of electronic documentation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39735/08]
View answerMy Department is committed under its Environment Policy Statement to continuous improvement in the environmental performance of its in-house practices, policies and programmes. My Department's guidelines on tender documentation request an electronic copy of the response along with three paper copies. These copies are necessary evaluation purposes as complex documents can be difficult to read on screen. However, my Department will review this procedure with a view to encouraging future tender respondents to comply with our commitments in this area, such as double sided printing, use of recycled paper and ensuring that any additional information not requested in the tender is provided electronically.
