Department of Justice and Equality to appear before PAC

GENDA: (i) Business of the Committee
(ii) 2015 Appropriation Accounts - Vote 24
C&AG Report 2015 - Chapter 6: Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision
[Officials from the Department of Justice and Equality]

Committee Chairman Seán Fleming said: “Total expenditure for the Justice and Equality Vote in 2015 amounted to €366.3m. The C&AG has drawn attention to material instances of non-compliance with national procurement rules which occurred in respect of contracts that operated in 2015.  

“In terms of capital assets under development, the balance carried forward of €1.068 million in the buildings category reflects the fit out costs of leased premises in Dublin for use by the Probation Service. While work has been completed in relation to this building, it cannot be occupied due to issues in relation to planning permission. The status of the lease remains in dispute. The Committee will be keen to ascertain what the current position is in relation to this building.

“Other issues of interest to the committee are: payroll overpayments; legal costs; expenditure on Commissions and Special inquiries; and asylum seekers accommodation.

“In relation to procurement and management of contracts for Direct Provision, suppliers of direct provision accommodation at commercially owned and operated centres have been paid €251m over the five years to 2015. We will be asking the Department to outline the details of the Department’s approach to securing direct provision accommodation and how rates paid to suppliers are determined. In the absence of a competitive tendering process for the procurement of this accommodation, we will want to know how the Department can satisfy itself that value for money has been obtained for the significant sums paid.

“At August 2016, a significant number of people whose cases have been finalised continue to reside in direct provision centres. One in six direct provision residents have been granted status permitting them to remain in Ireland. The Committee will be interested to determine what specific assistance the Department provides to help persons move to permanent accommodation and what is the process involved.”

The Committee has received documentation from An Garda Síochána in recent days and this will be discussed at the commencement of the meeting.

This meeting will take place in Committee room 3 at 9am on Thursday, 11 May 2017.

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