Vol. 489 No. 3
149 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance whether contracts or extension of contracts, which might fall within the criteria for public advertisement and tender as required by EU or national legislation, were awarded by his Department or bodies or agencies under the aegis of his Department without advertisement for public tender in the past seven years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7759/98]
The only contract awarded by my Department within the past seven years without advertisement for public tender, and which it might be argued fell within the criteria for public advertisement and tender as required by EU or national legislation, was a contract my Department has had since 1977 with Reuters Limited for the provision of information services. The contract has been renewed every two years. In November 1995 my Department was subscribing to both Reuters and its main competitor for the type of service that was required at that time. My Department did a thorough review of its information service requirements and decided that Reuters best met its requirements and offered best value for money. As a consequence of that review the decision not to continue the contract with the other supplier was taken. The two-year equivalent amount of the contract renewed on 27 November 1995 moved above the EU Commission threshold for EU public advertisement and tendering purposes for the first time. At the most recent renewal of the contract on 27 November 1997, the value of the Reuters contract was below the Commission's threshold and, therefore, EU public advertisement and tendering procedures were not required to be followed.
