Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2025
1123. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide details of any public contracts in his Department provided to companies or individuals who do not pay tax in Ireland, including the names of the contractor, value of the contract and purpose of the contract, in tabular form. [2028/25]
View answerThe principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the acquisition of goods and services. This is a requirement in accordance with the Directive on Public Procurement and the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016.
Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition on the eTenders site and on the Official Journal of the European Union, where appropriate. It is open to companies and individuals who are tax resident outside of Ireland to participate in tender competitions.
It is a condition of a contract award that successful tenderer(s) shall, for the term of such contract(s), comply with all EU and domestic tax laws. My Department requires that successful tenderers supply a Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax reference Number to facilitate online verification of its tax status prior to making payment. However, this does not provide my Department with information as to the tax residency of suppliers.
