Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 278: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will clarify a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27794/12]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The National Procurement Service, based in The Office of Public Works, is responsible for eProcurement and for the operation of the eTenders public procurement portal ( www.etenders.gov.ie ). Each year an average of 5,000 tenders for the procurement of goods, services and works are advertised on eTenders. The overall procurement spend by the public sector in the Republic of Ireland amounts to an estimated value of between €14 and €15 billion per year. The figure of €21 billion quoted by the Deputy refers to the estimated combined all-island value of the public procurement market in the Republic and Northern Ireland. The figures for public contracts awarded to Irish companies in 2010, the latest year for which such figures are available, are included in the table below. The Deputy should be aware that these statistics relate only to contracts placed that were above the EU Thresholds*, where a contract award notice was published and where the nationality of the winning tenderer was also disclosed. It should also be noted that the statistics do not distinguish between companies in the UK and those based in Northern Ireland, so of the contracts going "abroad" many of the contracts may have stayed on the island of Ireland.

* The EU Thresholds, above which tenders must be advertised on the eTenders website and the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), in 2010 were:

· €125,000 for supplies and services;

· €4,845,000 for works and utilities

Above threshold contracts awarded to Irish and Non-Domestic Suppliers 2010: