Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Finance if he has issued directives on fixed price contracts on capital projects; and if he has sought information from Departments on the extent to which contracts issued in 2005 have been of this nature. [26678/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Finance the public contracts or procurements which have exceeded the contract price in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27083/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to monitor public contracts or procurements with a view to protection against costly overruns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27084/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 150, 212 and 213 together.

The primary responsibility for the procurement, management and implementation of capital projects rests with individual Departments and public bodies under their aegis subject to compliance with general conditions of sanction and accountability. It is important to ensure a much closer alignment between the agreed tender price and the final outturn cost to minimise the potential for cost overruns. To help achieve this, my Department has put in place an integrated set of actions to address the issues of better management and implementation of capital programmes and projects. These include the five-year rolling multiannual capital envelopes framework, guidelines for the appraisal and management of capital expenditure and a programme of reform of construction procurement.

With regard to construction procurement reform, the Government decided in 2004 to introduce new arrangements to help reduce the scale of and scope for cost overruns in capital projects. My Department, with the assistance of the Government contracts committee for construction, has developed a suite of new draft standard forms of contract and conditions of engagement for construction related services, which introduce fixed price lump sum contracts tendered on a competitive basis with appropriate risk transfer. These are subject to consultation with the construction industry and professional bodies with a view to having them in place early next year. These initiatives should enhance the management of capital programmes and help to improve the cost effective delivery of construction projects over the medium to longer term.