Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Finance the thresholds whereby State agencies must implement and comply with tendering procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3522/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Under EU Directives contracting authorities are obliged to advertise contracts valued above certain thresholds in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). These contracts are also advertised on the national public procurement website www.etenders.ie .

The current thresholds (exclusive of VAT) which are applicable from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011 are as follows:

for works contracts - €4,845,000;

for supplies and services contracts of Government Departments - €125,000;

for supplies and services contracts of other public bodies - €193,000;

for supplies and services contracts of entities in the utilities sector - €387,000.

It is a basic principle of public procurement that a competitive process should be used, except in justifiably exceptional circumstances. Under national procedures, the general rule is that contracts in excess of €50,000 are advertised on the national public procurement website.