Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I note a number of issues raised today were previously addressed before this House under the Seanad Private Members' motion on 28 May 2021 and under a Private Members' motion and Government counter-motion on 2 February 2022.

I would like to assure the House that this process is being undertaken in line with the Government decision of 27 July 2021 and with EU procurement law, most notably, European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulation 2016, SI 284/2016.

There is no basis to support calls for Government to suspend or further delay the process. Furthermore, if the procurement does not continue, the Government will be in breach of public procurement law when the current contract expires. Moreover, lives could be put at risk if Government allows the current contract to expire without a replacement contractor being appointed.

An independent external process auditor is continually reviewing the conduct of the process on an ongoing basis. Assurance statements provided by the independent external process auditor to the Secretary General of my Department are published on the Department's website.

I reiterate that it is imperative that a suitable contract be in place quickly to meet our obligations to protect lives, to support communities and the maritime sector to deliver on the national search and rescue plan and to provide value for money services to citizens.