Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 5, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:“2.--(1) Before awarding a construction contract, a state contracting entity shall publish a notice of intention to award such contract, and such notice shall include--

(a) the name of the prospective executing party,

(b) an invitation to the public to submit observations to the state contracting entity in relation to the construction contract, such observations to be submitted within 28 days of the publication of the notice.

(2) A State contracting entity shall have the authority under this Act not to proceed to award a construction contact to a prospective executing party on the basis of information received under subsection (1)(b), such information to be independently verified.”.

We have already discussed this issue on Committee Stage. I have changed the wording to some extent because the Minister said he was awake all night wondering who the people were who had an interest in or who had observations to make concerning such a notice. Therefore, I clarified the amendment for Report Stage, stating that it would be "an invitation to the public to submit observations" to any State contracting entity. The purpose of this amendment is to provide that "Before awarding a construction contract, a State contracting entity shall publish a notice of intention to award such contract". In addition, it shall give the public 28 days to make observations. The State authority can take into consideration any relevant information it receives during that period.

Essentially it provides an opportunity for unpaid contractors to come forward and highlight the previous bad payment record of the person proposed to be awarded the contract.

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