Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 240: To ask the Minister for Defence if the Defences Forces have used the European Defence Agency in the procurement of supplies; the nature of savings that resulted from its use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25986/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The European Defence Agency (EDA) was established under a Joint Action of the Council of Ministers on 12 July, 2004 "to support the Member States and the Council in their effort to improve European defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the European Security and Defence Policy as it stands now and develops in the future". The EDA is an Agency of the European Union. Ireland participates in the framework of the Agency and is represented on the Steering Board by me.

The Agency has made significant progress in many areas since 2004, such as the development of the inter-Governmental regime for defence procurement of which Ireland is a member. The EDA Code of Conduct for defence procurement and a Code of Best Practice in the Supply Chain was developed to ensure transparency in procurement and to create a more competitive European defence equipment market.

There are 25 subscribing Member States (including Ireland) to the Code of Conduct. Under the regime an Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB) has been developed as a single portal for advertising defence equipment contract opportunities and 2007 was the first full year of operation through the Code of Conduct.

My Department is obliged to advertise tender competitions for defensive equipment with a value of €1m and over on the EBB. To date, four tender competitions, including the current tender competition for the provision of Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles to the Defence Forces, have been advertised by the Contracts Branch in my Department on the EBB. The benefits from advertising on the EBB in the EDA relate directly to the ability to attract tenders from a wide number of companies in the relevant fields leading to a more competitive tendering process. It is not possible to directly attribute savings to the use of the EBB, but I am confident that the use of the system will assist my Department in obtaining value for money when placing contracts for defensive equipment.