Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The most important point is that the tenderer is satisfied that his or her tender is examined adequately. One cannot qualify or should not qualify a tender, even though attempts have been made to do that from time to time.

I will not tell the Chair the anecdotal evidence circulating but I dealt with a lot of it in times gone by. I am referring, in particular, to cases where people said they had been tendering for ten years but never got through the process. They asked how that could happen and I had to investigate. I instructed the person concerned to put in several tenders under different headings or companies. That sorted it out fairly quickly. It is like the three-card trick man in that if you know what is under A and B, what is under the middle box is obvious to everybody concerned. I am anxious to ensure that what I describe cannot arise.

I will move on to the question of European law. To what extent do we examine the continued advance of European law in such a way that it might restrict the ability of the State to do what is necessary at any given time?