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Departmental Contracts

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 October 2021

Tuesday, 12 October 2021

Questions (36)

Catherine Connolly

Question:

36. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number and value all procurement contracts that took place by way of negotiated procedure without prior publication in 2020 and to date in 2021; and the date, value and purpose of each negotiated procedure contract in tabular form. [49727/21]

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Written answers

My Department has a dedicated Procurement Co-Ordination Unit, with responsibility at Principal Officer level. The Unit assists internal business units and our Offices on a range of procurement matters, as required, so as to ensure that there is an appropriate focus on procurement best practice. The Department is also guided by various national and international (EU) procurement rules and guidelines.

The Department, for the vast majority of its procurements, will try to avail of various centralised procurement frameworks put in place by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) as well as utilising the e-Tenders website and advertising in the EU Journal, where applicable.

It is the case however, that due to certain circumstances, a small number of contracts will be awarded each year without entering into a competitive process. As outlined in the 2019 OGP Public Procurement Guidelines for goods and services, contracting authorities can avail of the Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication i.e. a direct award of contracts.

Over the course of 2020 and to date in 2021, four procurement contracts were awarded via negotiated procedure without prior publication by my Department. The total value of these contracts is €182,019 (exclusive of VAT) and this amount represents approximately 1.5% of the total procurement spend of my Department over the period. Details relating to the four contracts awarded via negotiated procedure are set out in the table below.

Date

Description of contract by good or service type

Supplier

Value of Contract (Exclusive of VAT)

May 2020

Legal services to support the implementation of the €500 million expansion of the Future Growth Loan Scheme. This scheme enables business to access appropriate financing for long-term, strategic investment purposes. A negotiated contract was put in place which complied with the requirements of the COVID-19 Public Procurement requirements.

McCann Fitzgerald

€20,000

May 2020

Legal services for the development of the amendments to primary legislation, new secondary legislation and legal agreements related to the €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme. This is the largest guarantee scheme in the history of the State and provides liquidity to SMEs impacted by COVID-19. A negotiated contract was put in place which complied with the requirements of the COVID-19 Public Procurement requirements.

McCann Fitzgerald

€132,419

June 2020

To review the current definition of remuneration for the purpose of the employment permit regime and identify how minimum remuneration thresholds for the Critical Skills (CSEP) and General (GEP) Employment Permit types should be set.

The Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)

€17,000

January 2021

Legal Advices as advised by the Attorney General to assist the urgent drafting of Competition (Amendment) Bill 2021 to transpose Directive (EU) 2019/1

External Counsel (Nathy Dunleavy)

€12,600

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