Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, informs me that if the public procurement process identifies a price level for a standard ream of photocopy paper, for example, and a school has a traditional supplier of stationery and the unit price is €10, if the local supplier can provide it at that price then the school is entitled to purchase at that price. It has been the practice that Departments and agencies and sub-components of Government agencies in different parts of the country have been buying the same product at different prices from the same supplier. The Department has held meetings with schools management and the procurement officers to outline the flexibility available to them. Our only concern is value for money; we do not care who sells the product or where it is bought, provided that the unit price is a good price. If that means that the local supplier has to reduce his or her profit accordingly, that is a matter for the local school and the supplier.