Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. An internal audit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs completed in March 2014 examined the role played by Pobal and found some serious problems. I acknowledge the Minister was not in office at the time but I have to hand a copy of the audit report and it is pretty worrying. It states those involved understood that the Department employed Pobal without a tender process and that this approach had not been formally justified. The audit authors went on to state they did not know whether, if legally challenged, this contract with Pobal would be in line with EU directives. From a business point of view it seems unlikely that best value is achieved by dealing with one supplier without the benefit of a competitive tendering process. The Minister stated that Pobal is exempt from the requirements of the EU procurement directives and is not subject to a tendering process. Can she tell me whether legal advice was sought ? When was it obtained? Will she be willing to publish it?

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