Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Public procurement is governed by EU and national rules.  The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money.  It is a basic principle of public procurement that competitive tendering should be used other than in justifiably exceptional circumstances.

Under Department of Finance Circular 40/02, Accounting Officers of Government Departments and offices are required to complete and submit an annual report, signed off by the Accounting Officer, to the Comptroller and Auditor General in regard to contracts in excess of €25,000, exclusive of VAT, that were awarded without a competitive process.

The circular states that contracts awarded or purchases made without a competitive process should be subject to an internal review by an internal audit unit, or by a senior officer independent of the procurement process. The Accounting Officer, in his or her annual report to the Comptroller and Auditor General, sets out the reason for not using a competitive process for each contract. Current procurement rules recognise that there can be legitimate reasons for awarding contracts without the use of a competitive process, for example, in extreme emergencies or unforeseeable circumstances. Therefore, such procurements may not constitute breaches of the public procurement rules.

The Corporate Governance Standard for the Civil Service and the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies also identify procurement as one of a number of activities requiring special attention in promoting good corporate governance. It is the responsibility of the Government Departments and State bodies to satisfy themselves that they adhere to the requirements for public procurement.

The Office of Government Procurement provides guidance notes, documentation and a customer service function to support public bodies undertaking procurement directly themselves. In addition, template, tender and contract documents have been developed in conjunction with the Chief State Solicitor's office and the Office of the Attorney General to assist contracting authorities involved in carrying out routine, non-bespoke and low to medium risk procurements. These are available on the national public procurement website .

Public bodies are subject to examination by the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding their adherence to EU and national rules on public procurement. The Comptroller and Auditor General works with the Committee of Public Accounts in reviewing those accounts on an annual basis.

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