Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Deenihan asked the reason only one company was approached and the normal tendering process not undergone. As I was not personally involved in this, nor were the civilian staff in my Department - this was done by the military - I can only try to guess what happened. To put the matter in context, we were going into a position which, for reasons I have outlined in my reply, air support was essential. We had 400 troops in the middle of the desert in one of the most logistically difficult countries in the world, with a road infrastructure of approximately 300 km in a country which is double the size of France. Air support was essential.

When we joined the UNFOR mission our understanding was that our partners in the UNFOR mission would supply the requisite air support, and we literally found ourselves let down at the last minute. I am not saying things were done right because there was a rush, but this may explain the reason things were not done right. The people involved in this have put their hands up. The internal report conducted by my Department was reinforced by the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and found that there was fault in the way the contract was placed. We admit that and we regret it. The Chief of Staff wrote to me apologising for what happened. The normal procedure would be that we should have a proper tendering process, and various people tender. What should have happened also, as Deputy Deenihan rightly states, is that the Air Corps should have been consulted and the business case should have been put in writing to be evaluated by the high level group.

Deputy Deenihan asked what was done. A number of things have been done. The moment this matter was brought to our attention we revoked the authority to carry passengers. For three months, the company was restricted to the terms of its air certification, namely to carry only cargo to supply the troops. It was, however, available for medical evacuation purposes in the event of an emergency.

We instituted an internal inquiry through the audit section of my Department. The new procedures mean that the method by which authority is delegated to the military for performing specific tasks has been tightened up considerably. There will be no doubt in future about who has the delegated authority and the scope of that authority. The high level military civilian procurement group will now examine and monitor these contracts when they go to tender rather than just before the contract is to be placed. It will occur at a much earlier stage in the process, which will enable more discussion and evaluation.

Procurement was new to the Department and it has since been trained in procurement procedures. It will be wiser in future.

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