Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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313. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of submissions received during the consultation process on the review of public works contracts; the regions and organisations from which those submissions were made; the projected value of such a review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3643/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Fixed-price lump-sum public works contracts were introduced in February 2007 as part of the Construction Procurement Reform Initiative the objectives of which are to achieve greater cost certainty, better value for money and timely and more efficient delivery of projects.

A commitment was given to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the professional bodies in 2006 by the Minister for Finance at that time that a review would be conducted by the Government Contracts Committee for Construction (GCCC) at an appropriate time when adequate experience had been obtained in the use of the new contracts by contracting authorities.

I am satisfied that sufficient projects have now reached agreed final account stage to allow the Office of Government Procurement to conduct a review of the performance of the contracts.  The inaugural meeting of the main stakeholder bodies in the review of the public works contracts took place on 10 December 2013; and interested parties were then invited to make written submissions.

It is important that the review is thorough but at the same time conducted expeditiously so that we can concentrate on the business at hand; delivering much needed public facilities and infrastructure.  It is important that the key objectives that underlie the public works contracts: cost certainty at contract award; value for money and efficient delivery of public works projects will remain core to any revisions proposed to Government as a result of the review.

To date we have received 9 submissions, which include the following organisations:         

A number of other organisations indicated to us prior to the submission deadline that they will make a submission and we are happy to accommodate their request.