Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Finance further to a decision by the National Procurement Service to award a contract (details supplied), if he can confirm that all tenderers who applied for the contract in question were visited by the National Procurement Service; if he can establish if the company awarded the contract in question paid for travel or accommodation expenses incurred by the NPS in visiting the site in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15262/10]

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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It is not the practice of the National Procurement Service to visit all candidates or tenderers in tender competitions. Following the evaluation of tenders received in a competition, it is sometimes necessary to verify, by way of a site visit, that the lead tenderer has the necessary equipment, skill personnel and capacity to satisfactorily perform the contract. On this basis, a visit was made to the company who had submitted the lead tender in this case, and it was decided to award the contract to that company.

None of the travel or accommodation expenses incurred in this visit were paid by the company. The total cost of the visit incurred by the National Procurement Service amounted to €621.32 including flights, travel and subsistence. A representative of the Revenue Commissioners also attended the facility and would have incurred similar costs.