Mr. Ned Fennessy:

First, on the Chairman's comment on controllability and so forth, we were asked whether 5% is a reasonable achievement and whether 2% is impossible. There has been a lot of debate over time about the tolerable rate of error. In dealing with that, it was proposed that, for certain policy areas, the tolerable rate of error should be higher, perhaps up to 5%. The consensus was that this was a licence to tolerate too much error, so it was rejected at the time.

With regard to public procurement, while I am not expert in the domain, from my experience, the requirements are graduated depending on the amount of money involved. For instance, if it is less than €50,000, the obligations are a lot less than if it is more. The business of opening up the tender procedure to a wider audience is very much dependent on the amounts involved. The Deputy made a comment about some possible derogations for France. I am not aware of any such derogations for any individual country, and I would be surprised if that were the case.

Maybe there is a derogation in the sense that not everybody speaks French, so it is a natural constraint. I would also say that price is only one element in public procurement. It does not necessarily have to be the primordial element. It does not have to be the cheapest price that prevails. If there is reason to justify another tender it is perfectly feasible and correct to do so.