Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Finance if the EU has imposed fines or penalties on Ireland for non-compliance with EU laws on tendering; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21004/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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No fines or penalties have been imposed on Ireland in respect of tendering procedures referred to the European Commission or the European Court of Justice for examination on the basis of compliance with EU laws on public tendering.

In relation to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund, the European Commission or the European Court of Auditors conduct audits on individual programmes or projects and following the outcome of extensive consultation procedures with the Member State in question, may impose a financial correction for a failure to comply with a particular article in the Public Procurement Directive. Since 2000 the European Commission has imposed Cohesion Fund financial corrections for breaches of tendering amounting to €10.3 million. This represents only about 0.5% of the total of €2,081.2 million in Cohesion funding approved for Ireland in the 1993-2003 period.