Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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That is exactly where I thought this was leading. If the Department goes through public procurement and contracts it out to one provider, how can it come along the following year and specify in legislation that it will be incorporated in a statutory structure with people paid a salary, like the Probation Service, having just put the other in place? From the point of view of the Committee of Public Accounts, the Department will tie its hands if it appoints a national provider and then it will not have the scope to realistically examine something like the Probation Service with salaried staff. The Department would be ruling that out because the successful tenderer would have to have the contract for a period of time.

I have one further question that follows on from what Deputy Madigan said. Given that there is only one major service provider - I have no doubt it does outstanding work because it would not be doing that work otherwise - it will be very hard to have an effective public procurement tender when there is really one body out there. Will it be open to tendering from outside the State, for example, by people who do it in some nearby states and might open up a Dublin office and get the contract?