Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 562: To ask the Minister for Defence if there is an annual contract for grass topping and maintenance on the lands at the Curragh, County Kildare, which are the property of his Department; if so, the way in which this is awarded; the cost of the contract for the years 1997 to 2004 inclusive; the candidates which obtained the contract for these years; the requirement for the contract; if the contract was advertised for 2004 and other years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25475/04]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Contracts for environmental maintenance works on the Curragh are awarded by my Department on a periodic basis following a tender competition which is advertised in local County Kildare based newspapers, Leinster Leader, Kildare Nationalist and Kildare Times. A contract for weed-cutting on the Curragh is awarded every year following a restricted tender competition. My Department holds details of potential contractors in this regard — currently 13 — and the tender has not been advertised in recent years as the process did not lead to an increase in the number of tenderers. It is open to individuals to request inclusion on the list.

The contracts are required to enable my Department to meet its duty of care to protect the environmental heritage of the Curragh as well as to meet certain statutory obligations in the control of noxious weeds and, in all cases, the lowest tender has been accepted. The contract for environmental works is based on hourly rates for labour and equipment, while the weed-cutting contract is based on an all-in figure. Details of the contractors engaged during the period are as follows:

Expenditure in each year in respect of these contracts is as follows: