Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is the committee agreeable to that? Okay. The next item of correspondence is from Mr. Kevin McCarthy, Secretary General of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It is dated 27 September 2022 and provides information requested by the committee regarding international protection accommodation. Members might recall that certain functions transferred from the Department of Justice to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in October 2020. Contracts related to the provision of accommodation for international protection applicants were adjudged by the Accounting Officer of the Department of Justice to have undergone a competitive procurement process. However, the Accounting Officer of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth took the view that, while they were competitive, they did “not comply with national and EU procurement directives and guidelines, irrespective of whether the procurement was ‘competitive’ in the everyday understanding of the term". The contracts, with a combined value of over €91 million, were therefore included in the Department’s Circular 40 of 2002 return, which details procurement that, for exceptional reasons, did not to involve a competitive tender. It is proposed to note and publish this item of correspondence. Is that agreed? Agreed. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will come before us in two weeks' time, on 27 October. Deputy Catherine Murphy has flagged this for discussion.