Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together.

As I outlined to the House on 1 March last, in so far as the report makes recommendations for improvements in the procurement procedures, additional procedures have been approved by the Government for incorporation into the Cabinet handbook and are available on my Department's website. Those procedures will give the Secretary General to the Government and the Government secretariat a role in examining certain procurements. These procedures were brought to the attention of all Secretaries General who were asked to implement them and bring them in future to the attention of all newly appointed Ministers or, where relevant, Ministers of State in their Departments or offices. They were effective immediately upon announcement on 17 February. In doing this, I have implemented all the recommendations by Mr. Quigley which were relevant to my Department.

There is no special unit in my Department for the application of the procedures and there was at no time an intention to establish such a unit. Any workload arising from the application of these guidelines is being handled within existing resources in the Government secretariat.

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