Public Service Contracts.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 March 2007

Wednesday, 21 March 2007

Ceisteanna (130)

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

189 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number and identity of contracts or procurements approved, signed, entered into or otherwise committed to in the past 12 months; if normal procedures and requirements were followed in each case; the exceptions that were recommended and by whom; if recommendations were made by groups, bodies, agencies or individuals with whom Government Departments, State or semi-State agencies have current or previous associations; if all such projects or procurements were fully advertised and assessed and by whom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10852/07]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

The detailed information required by the Deputy is not readily available in the format requested. As the Deputy will appreciate, having regard to the breadth of activities undertaken by my Department and by the agencies under its aegis, the extent of the procurement activity is necessarily very extensive, running perhaps to several hundred procurement instances in the period in question. In these circumstances, it would require an disproportionate amount of time and staff resources to assemble the data required.

I can, however, inform the Deputy that procurement activity in my Department continues to be managed in accordance with established public sector guidelines and subject to internal and external audit in the normal way. In particular, I can advise him that as part of the assurance and control arrangements in place, a full procurement audit of purchases made during 2006 which will, inter alia, review many of the questions raised by the Deputy is in the process of being carried out by the Central Procurement Unit of the Department and will be completed later this year.