Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are companies that are not compliant with registered employment agreements or with the requirements in relation to the construction workers' pension scheme who are being given contracts to build publicly funded construction projects; and if he will ensure that such companies are prevented from applying for publicly funded construction projects until fully compliant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13125/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It is the responsibility of each contracting authority to ensure that contractors comply with the provisions in the Public Works Contracts in relation to pay and conditions of employment of all personnel working on public projects. These contracts were developed by my Department as part of the Construction Procurement Reform Initiative. Clause 5 of the Public Works contracts, require main contractors and all subcontractors employed by main contractors to comply with the rates of pay and conditions of employment including pension contributions in employment agreements registered under the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 to 2004. The one exception is in regard to the registered agreement for pensions where a firm registered in another Member State and working in this country has employees temporarily posted from that other jurisdiction and who subscribe to a national pension scheme in their own country, then the firm or its employees do not have to subscribe to the Irish pension scheme.

The Public Works Contracts also requires a main contractor to provide a certificate of compliance (titled 'Rates of Pay and Conditions of Employment Certificate') with each interim statement submitted (normally on a monthly basis). Failure to provide this compliance certificate will result in payment not being made by the contracting authority. If a main contractor provides a certificate of compliance and it is subsequently found to be untrue or partly untrue the contracting authority has the right to deduct the money relating to the work or part of the work covered by the certificate from any sums due to the main contractor. This money can be withheld until the pay and conditions of employment issue is made right. The ultimate sanction if a main contractor continues to be non-compliant is for the main contract to be terminated.

Under a Public Works Contract a contracting authority has the right, whenever it is deemed necessary, to access data and records on pay and conditions for work persons employed on the site. In the case of capital works projects in excess of €30 million and with a contract duration in excess of 18 months, contracting authorities provide in their contracts for random checks of the records of contractors and sub-contractors to assess compliance with the requirements of the Registered Employment Agreement, as appropriate.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 10: To ask the Minister for Finance the steps he will take to ensure compliance by construction companies with registered employment agreements and the construction workers' pension scheme before those companies are approved for tender of any works that are publicly funded, including hospitals and schools by having inspectors investigate those companies beforehand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13126/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In order to ensure greater participation of small to medium sized enterprises in tendering for public works contracts a threshold of €250.000 and below has been set where only the open procedure is to be used. This means that tenderers' suitability is assessed at the same time as their tender prices. It is a requirement that tender documents for public works projects state that the standard Public Works Contract is to be used at award stage. The standard Public Works Contract has specific provisions included in it dealing with pay and conditions of employees employed by the main contractor and its sub-contractors.

Under the Treaty principles and EU procurement directives contracting authorities must conduct their procurement affairs in a transparent and non-discriminatory way. This is to ensure that companies interested in tendering for public works projects from another member state are permitted to do so even though they cannot demonstrate compliance with our registered employment agreements because they have not worked here before.

The body that is responsible for carrying out inspections regarding compliance with the agreements is the National Employments Rights Authority (NERA). Firms found by NERA to be non-compliant are prosecuted in the courts.