Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
90. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to compile a report on non-compliant Covid-19-related expenditure given the high volume of Covid-19-related procurement purchases which took place outside the standard competitive procedures. [20511/21]
View answerCompliance with the public spending code in the disbursement of public funds is a matter for each contracting authority and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is charged with responsibility for auditing and reporting on the accounts of each Government Department in that respect. The Local Authority Audit Service performs a similar function for Local Authorities.
It is a basic principle of public procurement that competitive tendering should be used except in justifiably exceptional circumstances. The EU Directives acknowledge and allow for the fact that there can be legitimate reasons for awarding contracts without the use of a competitive process, such as extreme urgency brought about by unforeseeable events such as the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consequently, a direct award of a contract without a competitive process can be compliant with procurement rules. The justification for using non-competitive procurement and compliance with procurement rules is a matter for each contracting authority.
My Department does not have a regulatory function in this regard but supports public bodies in meeting their public procurement obligations through a range of supports including guidelines and template documentation, through proactive engagement with Government Departments and Agencies, and through OGP's sourcing partners in the Health, Education, Defence and Local Government Sectors through the Procurement Executive.
Public procurement procedures undertaken without a competitive process to meet extreme urgency supply requirements brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic emergency will require to be reported under Department of Finance Circular 40/02 reporting obligations to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). Circular 40/02 places an obligation on Government Departments and Offices to report all contracts above €25,000 (exclusive of VAT) awarded without a competitive process to the C&AG by 31 March of the following year with a copy to be sent to the OGP. The C&AG publishes information on these returns in the annual Appropriation Accounts. Circular 40/02 further recommends that contracts awarded without a competitive process should be subject to an internal review in each relevant Department or agency, preferably by the Internal Audit Unit or alternatively by an appropriate senior officer who is not part of the procurement process.
