Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 399: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the print jobs carried out for his Department and being provided by companies based outside the Republic of Ireland; the dates of the awarding of these contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27840/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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From 2005 to date, my Department has used one non-Irish based printer for a significant contract which was procured on its behalf by the Government Supplies Agency (GSA). The details are as follows:

The Department's principal print requirement is for passport application forms. This contract is currently held by an Irish company, Ebrook Limited, trading as DC Kavanagh, located in Ballymount Industrial Estate, Dublin 12, following an advertised EU-level tender process which was concluded in early 2008.

For its routine print requirements, the Department generally makes use of drawdown contracts which have been put in place by the Government Supplies Agency (GSA). I understand that the current holders of these contracts are Irish-based companies. These contracts are also used to source routine items (such as headed stationery) for the Department's Missions overseas. However, the Deputy will appreciate that in some cases it is more practical for Missions abroad to source certain requirements locally, for example when the requirement is small, when items have to be translated and printed in non-roman script, or where shipping costs from Ireland would be prohibitive.

While my Department is very well disposed to doing business with Irish small and medium enterprises, I must point out that, under the rules of the EU Single Market, printers based anywhere in the EU/EEA are entitled to compete for public contracts in Ireland over a value threshold of €133,000 and it is illegal to discriminate against suppliers on grounds of nationality in respect of such contracts. Irish print service providers are of course equally entitled to compete for such contracts in all EU/EEA Member-States. In order to assist and encourage Irish companies to compete for this business, my Department has posted information on accessing public sector market opportunities in the EU/EEA in a section of its website which provides information on public procurement opportunities for suppliers (It can be found at http://dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=28436 .)