Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the best value for money is being achieved for the taxpayer by the Royal Irish Academy, which receives multi-million euro funding from the Oireachtas, awarding contracts to foreign based companies (details supplied), thus leaving a large number of Irish workers with no choice but to claim unemployment benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6713/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Royal Irish Academy is an All-Ireland, independent academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Its mission is inter alia to promote excellence in scholarship, organise lectures, conferences, academic exchanges and visiting fellowships, manage national research and publication projects and publish academic journals etc. The Academy is funded through the Higher Education Authority. Core grant funding amounting to €3.5 million was provided to the Academy in 2010.

The internal disbursement of such funding is a matter for the Academy and my Department has no role in its day to day operational affairs. However, I understand that the issue referred to by the Deputy relates to the award of a contract in respect of typesetting for the publication of the Academy's journals, the value of which is in the region of €3,500. Whilst the vast majority of the Academy's typesetting is done within the Academy, journal typesetting requires specific skills.

The Academy is bound by best practice in public procurement under the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies to choose the most economically advantageous tender following an invitation to tender. As the work in question was less than €5,000, the Academy in line with best procurement practice sought five quotes for the work in question. In this case, the contract was awarded to an Irish company based in Dublin who the Academy understands outsourced a portion of its work outside of Ireland.