Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Given that the Dublin Inner City Community Alliance had cited EU Directive 2014/24/EU during its presentation as a valid reason for not proceeding with the tendering, we asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to confirm to the committee whether it was the valid directive. Has the previous directive which was used for the tendering process earlier this year lapsed and will the State have to pass into law the new directive by April 2016? Given that the SICAP tendering process has to be repeated within a number of years, the Dublin Inner City Community Alliance believes some of the concerns it has raised may be addressed by EU Directive 2014/24/EU. It believes that if it were in place, community organisations would not be forced to compete against each other in the tendering process, as was the case in this instance. I also believe we should forward the response we received from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, together with the response from the chief procurement office, to the petitioners. We should respond to the chief procurement officer again seeking clarification that EU Directive 2004/18/EC does not apply to certain services funded by way of grant aid. We should also ask if the Teckal principle applies to the new directive. There has been a loss of service in some areas as a result of the tendering process. It is still a valid petition, given that the tendering process has been completed but still affects local areas.