Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not have knowledge of any particular issue such as the one the Deputy indicated. Public procurement is governed by well-established EU and national rules and guidelines. The aim of the rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money. EU directives on public procurement require that public works, supplies and service contracts above certain thresholds must be advertised on the Official Journal of the EU and awarded on the basis of objective and non-restrictive criteria. For works contracts, the threshold is €5.186 million; for supplies and service contracts awarded by Government Departments, the threshold is €134,000; and for the remainder of public bodies, the threshold is €207,000. The threshold for supplies and service contracts of entities operating in utility sectors such as water, energy, transport and postal services is €414,000. For contracts below these thresholds, the general requirement is that they be advertised on the national public procurement website,or, depending on value, awarded on the basis of a competitive process of direct invitation to an adequate number of suitable suppliers.

In line with this, the following national rules apply to below EU threshold procurements. Supplies or services costing less than €5,000 in value may be purchased on the basis of verbal quotes from one or more competing suppliers. Contracts for supplies or services between €5,000 and €25,000 in value should be awarded on the basis of responses to specifications sent by fax or e-mail to at least three suppliers or service providers. Goods and general services with an expected value of €25,000 or more should be advertised on the eTenders website while for ICT procurements, the expected value is €10,000 or more. It is the responsibility of each contracting authority to ensure they comply with EU and national rules in relation to public procurement.

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