Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 5 March 2015
Public Accounts Committee
2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement
10:00 am
Mr. Robert Watt:
If there is a case of a clear conflict of interest, then there will be very clear sanctions. I will take on board what the Chairman says. If there is a case that a contract has been awarded without a competitive process to somebody who had a relationship and a connected relationship previously with the entity, we do not believe that is appropriate and we would expect that there would be some response and action taken. I do not want to go into the details of what that might be because it will depend on the circumstances. Clearly, if anybody who is present saw that in their organisation, he or she would immediately ask what was going on. It is not correct that it is not a competitive process. Clearly if it goes to a company that has a previous connection with the body, then immediately there will be a perception of something not being correct. I absolutely agree.