Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason two contracts, with a total value of €98,892 (details supplied) were granted by her Department without the necessity to submit a tender in March 2013. [26007/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the information campaign undertaken by the Citizens Information Board, CIB, regarding the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service. This service offers a dedicated helpline, website and financial advice which is available to borrowers from independent accountants, the cost of which is being borne by the lenders via the Irish Banking Federation. Supporting people in difficulty with their mortgages is a key priority for Government. In this regard, and in the context of the establishment of the personal insolvency service, the Cabinet committee on mortgage arrears strongly endorsed the recommendation of the interdepartmental working group to have a very comprehensive information campaign to promote awareness of the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service which includes the helpline, website and accountancy advice. In this regard, the working group had proposed that the CIB, which has major expertise for the provision of information and had already established the helpline and the website www.keepingyourhome.ie, would be the most appropriate body to undertake this important campaign. The CIB made a decision on that basis to proceed with a single tender contract. It was further agreed that the costs should be borne by the lending institutions - the banks - and this was successfully negotiated with the Irish Banking Federation. Therefore, this campaign involves no cost for the Exchequer as it is fully funded by the lending institutions.

The total value of the work commissioned amounted to €80,400. This was based on standard rates for work of this nature and the costs were divided between the designers of the campaign - just over €15,000 - and their media partner who organised the media time - €65,000. Since the campaign was run, I am pleased to see that there has been an increase in the numbers of people accessing the helpline and the website. The campaign consisted of a two-week radio campaign involving local and national radio, a series of newspaper advertisements in national media over a three-week period and an online display advertising campaign which ran for four weeks. Since July 2012, the Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service helpline has received over 5,000 calls and there have been over 100,000 visits to the website.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the purpose of the campaign and appreciate the fact that the Exchequer was not out of pocket, certainly regarding the larger contract to which I refer. However, I have here a list of the Citizens Information Board, CIB, contracts issued for one month, March 2013. There was a contract for Downey Cleaning Services in the amount of €7,901, and five people were contacted to tender for that. A contract was given to Northside Community Law Centre for training in an amount of €3,930, and three quotations were sought for that. There was a contract for Performance Management and Development System, PMDS, training - €5,200 - and, again, three quotations were sought for that. A contract was awarded to Reads for photocopying the Citizens Information Services employer and staff handbook, which was for an amount of only €2,240, but five quotes were sought for it.

It seems a little strange, to say the least, that the majority in value of the contracts issued by this organisation, under the aegis of the Minister's Department, for the month of March went out without any tender. What criteria are used to select a person to offer a contract like this to without the necessity of tendering?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The CIB is an independent agency and the chief executive officer is the Accounting Officer for the board and is responsible for ensuring all public moneys are expended in a proper manner. The CIB was requested to do this by the interdepartmental group, the group working on mortgages, because of the desire to get people who are indebted with mortgage debt to be in contact with their lenders, and to offer those people an advisory service. The dedicated helpline was established last year and it has been updated for all the changes in the law. The accounting advice is provided by the various members of accounting bodies throughout the country. The decision and request by the interdepartmental group, which included the Department of Finance and representation from the Central Bank, was that an information campaign should be launched. The CIB was asked to do this and it proceeded with a single tender on grounds of urgency. As I said, the cost was divided between the designers of the campaign and the media partner, which organised the media time.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I recognise the necessity of what was done but I am concerned with what yardstick or criteria were used to select that particular contractor. Perhaps the Minister would outline the criteria generally used by agencies under the aegis of the Department which give out contracts like this without inviting tenders.

What yardstick was used, or what criteria, to select that particular contractor? Perhaps the Minister might outline what criteria are generally used by agencies under the aegis of her Department to give out contracts of this kind without inviting tenders. I realise the Minister does not have the information with her but I ask her to furnish me with a list of contracts issued in the past 18 months by her Department and the agencies under its aegis, giving a breakdown of which required tenders and which were granted without the necessity to tender.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If I understood the Deputy's question, he is looking for a list of all tenders issued by the Department of Social Protection in the past 18 months.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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No, I referred to all contracts issued by the Department and its agencies, with a breakdown as to those-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I do not have that information to hand but will certainly request it for the Deputy. As a former Minister, the Deputy is aware that in situations of urgency provisions are made for single tenders. Given that few issues are more urgent than assisting people in trouble with their mortgages and getting information to them, that was the context in which the Citizens Information Board, CIB, was requested to carry out this work and, because it was asked to do so on an urgent basis, it went with the single tender.

The board of the CIB is the Accounting Officer. I will approach the board and the chief executive in order to get the further information the Deputy requires. I would not have access to, or would not look in detail at every tender and event that happened in the CIB. It has a board, a chief executive and staff. As the Deputy is probably aware, there is a considerable expenditure of public money between the CIB and MABS to provide services for people in terms of information and, especially in the current climate, to provide information on indebtedness.