Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On page 3 of the appropriation accounts I was surprised to read that the Department was in breach of national procurement guidelines to the tune of €5 million in 19 specific cases, or an average of €263,000 per case. In addition, there are other local historical supplier arrangements that are outside national procurement guidelines. Of the 19 cases referred to, what was the value of the three biggest cases where procurement guidelines had been breached by the Department in the year under review? Subject to commercial sensitivities, will the Department send us a list of all 19 cases? Why is there this level of non-compliance with procurement guidelines?