Mr. Mark Griffin:

I would not accept that for a second. I know that one of the things that concerns the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts is the way Departments and Government bodies and agencies adhere to public procurement rules and the frustration that can be caused to the committee when the rules are not complied with.

What we did as a Department was well before the Comptroller and Auditor General produced a report. We established a dedicated procurement unit to assist in the planning and delivery of procurement and we work closely with the Office of Government Procurement. We put in place a register to make sure that details of all proposed procurements are forwarded to the office prior to the commencement of the process. That will ensure that to a much lesser extent, non-competitive procurement will be avoided. There will be circumstances, and it is allowed for in the control system that is in place in Departments, for exceptions to be made to the rule. I expect that in some cases those exceptions may have to be triggered.

I cannot give an explanation in relation to why the contracts were not recorded in accordance with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 40/02. I suspect that there may have been some confusion in relation to whether the circular applied in cases where one takes on board retired Civil Service or public service staff. The other point to make on the three individuals who were retired public and civil servants is that the pension abatement rules in place were complied with in those circumstances.