Ms Caron McCaffrey:

There are a number of circumstances where we have contracts in place that were not subject to a competitive tender. To focus specifically on the area the Deputy identified, within that category are urgent requirements and issues of security consideration. Of the five cases, which total €498,000, three related to security equipment we were not in a position to go to the market to tender on. That comprised handcuffs, an explosive detection system and the installation of security netting at a prison to combat a particular issue we have with drugs being thrown over the walls.