Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance I will first address questions to the representatives of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. On the public sector build awards, has the CCPC any powers or input in simplifying build tenders? I believe that in many cases, these appear to exclude people because of the complexity of the build tender that is put out in the public system.

Has the CCPC an opinion on companies bidding for build tenders when they are already defending existing legal cases in the courts in the State? These cases are to do with previous builds where they are accused of substandard supply, and yet the companies are still on bidding lists and are winning further awards for public sector builds.

Does the CCPC have any function in allowing wider access to an approved tenderers' list? If a contractor wants to build in the hospital space in Ireland the tender list is probably no wider than five large-scale builders who are looked at. There are other contractors in the private sector which, if they have not built a hospital or a large medical unit previously, are perceived to be excluded. Perhaps the witnesses will comment on those questions please.