Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the procedures in place to ensure that recipients of State contracts abide by all relevant laws and regulations including tax, social welfare and health and safety and that this also applies to subcontractors engaged by the main contractor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29926/14]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask the Minister what procedures are currently in place to ensure recipients of State contracts abide by all relevant laws and regulations in regard to income tax, social welfare and health and safety rules and to ensure that this applies also to subcontractors on various projects.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Public procurement procedures require all applicants to meet specified standards when applying for public contracts. In this regard, applicants are required to make signed declarations in respect of their financial standing, their legal standing and their payment of taxes and social contributions. The criteria on which contracting authorities may exclude applicants from the award procedure of public contracts are set out in public procurement regulations and directives. Before an applicant is excluded, the applicant may make a case and provide supporting evidence as to why it should not be excluded. The contracting authority must consider this evidence.

It is a condition of the award of public contracts above €10,000 that the successful applicant either provide to a contracting authority a current tax clearance certificate or demonstrate a satisfactory level of subcontractor tax compliance in the case of the construction, forestry or meat processing sectors, which are subject to relevant contracts tax. The same tax clearance requirement applies to any non-resident contractor being awarded a public contract.

In regard to public works, there is a substantial body of legislation that directly or indirectly governs construction activities. However, two key pieces of industry-specific legislation - the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 and the Building Control Regulations 1997 to 2014 - place considerable responsibility not only on contractors but on all those involved in construction projects. The ultimate sanction for a serious breach of health and safety regulations is a criminal conviction and imprisonment.

In regard to the contract documents, clause 2 of the standard form of public works contracts requires the contractor and his personnel to comply with all legal requirements. In addition, the works requirements, which are a key part of the contract documents, set out detailed specifications on how regulatory standards are to be met.

The management of the tendering process for a public contract is a matter for each contracting authority. It is the responsibility of each contracting authority to ensure that tenderers comply with all the requirements of the process.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. What he said is fine, but it does not address the issue to which I refer. The Minister spoke about people applying for contracts, the conditions for contracts, producing tax clearance certificates and the responsibilities on contractors and the contracting authority to ensure people tender properly. We all take that as read, and everybody agrees with that, but what measures are in place to ensure they actually abide by the above? I listened to the Minister's reply but there was no mention of anybody at public level looking after the taxpayers' interests to ensure the contractors abide by the conditions they are meant to abide by.

I will give two examples. Approximately €3 billion is to be spent on capital projects this year. The biggest areas are roads and schools. I have said in the House previously that I know of schools, which I have reported, where subcontractors on-site bus people to sign on every Thursday morning and then bus them back to continue working. I said to the Secretary General of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport at the Committee of Public Accounts last Thursday that, as we speak, some of subcontractors on the largest road projects, contracted by the National Roads Authority under public private partnership, are telling people who want to work that they must be on the dole and that they will not employ them if they are not in receipt of a jobseeker's payment because they do not want to pay them the full rate. If they want a job, those people must sign on. However, they risk prosecution and they cannot make PRSI contributions so their records will be diminished as a result.

The Minister should put measures in place for on-site inspections by the Department of Social Protection, the Revenue Commissioners and the Health and Safety Authority to ensure people on these sites are officially there.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I must say I am taken aback by the charges the Deputy has made. It is a legal responsibility for each contracting authority to comply with the law and to ensure contracts are fully compliant with the law. In the case of roads, it is a matter for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Roads Authority, while in the case of schools it is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills. The Deputy said he raised these matters with the Accounting Officer in each of those Departments. If he sends me the details, I will ensure they are acted on.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister and I accept that. I have been told by workers that they do not want their names mentioned. One can understand that because they appreciate the work when they get it. There should be an inspection mechanism across the public service to ensure on-site inspections of capital projects by the Department of Social Protection. Workers have reported some of these sites and sometimes the contractors have been fined two years after the contract is completed, but a fat lot of good that is as workers have lost their jobs in the meantime for protesting at the gate that they could not get legitimate work. This is an ongoing issue. There should be inspections of the PRSI record of every worker on every major State contract.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is a matter of legal compliance. Contractors have to sign statutory declarations. There is a legal consequence which would make them subject not only to action but to debarment from public contracts should the matters the Deputy set out be proved to be true. If they Deputy sends me the details, I will ensure the line Departments act on them. I do not think it is up to me to have another set of measures.

10 o’clock

For example, in the area of health and safety, it is clear there are organisations to carry out site inspections and so on and the same applies in respect of social welfare, where there are social welfare inspectors. However, if the Deputy provides me with details, I will ensure that any specific case or suspicion he may have will be investigated fully.