Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 439: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if, in the interest of reducing paper use, his Department has plans to relax or drop the requirement to supply three or more hard copies of tender documentation and to move towards greater use of electronic documentation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39731/08]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to incorporating environmental considerations into its daily activities by reducing paper use and using paper recycling facilities to the greatest extent possible. For example, documents and reports published by my Department are now available on its website at www.pobail.ie. This has considerably reduced the requirement to print hard copies and has reduced costs accordingly.

My Department also seeks to implement optimal procurement structures and effective purchasing policies and procedures. With regard to tender processes, the key consideration of my Department is to ensure that the highest standards of transparency and integrity are maintained in every case and, against this background, it is necessary, in some instances, to request three hard copies as required by tender evaluation committees. I can assure the Deputy, however, that, where appropriate, tenderers are invited to submit tenders electronically rather than to provide hard copies.