Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2012
165. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that he has taken to ensure that the school build programme in County Meath contributes to the local economy and job creation through the provision of local labour, local sourcing and other social clauses within the procurement process. [55182/12]
View answer172. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he has taken to ensure that the school build programme at Johnston, Navan, County Meath, contributes to the local economy and job creation through the provision of local labour, local sourcing and other social clauses within the procurement process. [55234/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 172 together.
It is a key principle, enunciated in the Public Procurement Guidelines, published by the NPPPU, that the public procurement function is discharged honestly, fairly, and in a manner that secures best value for public money. Contracting authorities must be cost effective and efficient in the use of resources while upholding the highest standards of probity and integrity.
The Guidelines require a competitive process carried out in an open, objective and transparent manner to achieve best value for money in public procurement. This is in line with EU Treaty principles and EU Directives on public procurement.
Essential principles to be observed in conducting all procurement functions include non – discrimination, equal treatment, transparency, mutual recognition, proportionality, freedom to provide service and freedom of establishment. The Directives impose legal obligations on public bodies in regard to advertising and the use of objective tendering procedures for contracts above certain value thresholds. The estimated cost of the development at the school to which the Deputy refers is above the relevant threshold. In common with the rest of the Public Sector, capital works projects in schools are tendered under the standard Public Works Contracts as required by the Department of Finance and the Government Contracts Committee for Construction (GCCC).
School Building Projects, including the one referred to by the Deputy, are tendered in compliance with the above requirements. While building projects, by their nature, generally contribute to economic activity in the locality in which they are carried out, my Department does not regard it as feasible to use the Public Works Contracts to require contractors to use local labour or materials.
