Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is putting the total programme out to tender, but the reality is that under the rules it is not permitted for national organisations to do so. Tenders must be submitted, and can only be considered, on a county-by-county basis and only for the delivery of the programme in its entirety. It is not possible for the National Collective of Community Based Women's Network, NCCWN, to tender for this programme either nationally or to deliver women-specific programmes. It is disingenuous to say that the new system is the same as the old one, except that the Minister is putting it out to tender.

There is also a question over whether it was necessary to put this out to tender. The Minister will say that he received legal advice but I understand that subsequent to that advice the EU introduced a new regulation whereby social programmes do not have to go out to tender. The legal advice might be out of date, so that issue should be revisited.

The Minister could have had a national tender for certain programmes that are better delivered nationally. He makes great play of the fact that he is localising everything, yet he is the Minister with responsibility for Uisce Éireann. I am not arguing with him on this basis because one must take it case by case. The Minister argued cogently - as I would argue concerning Travellers', women's and islanders' programmes - that rather than doing them on an area basis and making the component parts so weak as to have no say, it would be much better to do certain things nationally.

I am asking the Minister once again to re-tender some national programmes for women, islanders and Travellers, which are specific cohorts that require a national programme.

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