David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Department for the good work it does but we are also here to probe its failure to reach targets in certain areas and areas where it might not have stood up to scrutiny. The first area I want to focus on is non-compliance with procurement rules. Page 4 of the appropriation accounts refers to 47 contracts with a spend of €3.9 million. We have put all Accounting Officers on notice. Mr. Gleeson might have noticed that when the committee sees instances of non-compliance in audited accounts in the opinion of the Comptroller and Auditor General, we try to probe that a little more to achieve better compliance with the rules. Why were 47 contracts totalling almost €4 million deemed to be non-compliant and where there was not sufficient competition within the procurement process?