Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there are currently any requirements placed on companies which tender for public contracts to demonstrate that they comply with employment law in respect of the rights and entitlements of their employees; if there is any specific requirement placed on companies which have been found to be in breach of employment law and which subsequently tender for public contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27867/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In relation to the general issue of employment law and its enforcement, these are matters for my colleague Mr. Richard Bruton, T. D. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) respectively.

Public procurement procedures require applicants to meet certain standards when applying for public contracts.  The criteria upon which contracting authorities may exclude applicants from the award procedure of public contracts are set out in Regulation 53 of SI 329 of 2006 European Communities (Award of Public Contracts) Regulations 2006 and Article 45 and Recitals (34) and (43) of 2004/18/EC, the EU Directive on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts.  Before an applicant, in relation to certain breaches is excluded, the applicant may make a case and provide supporting evidence as to why it should not be excluded.  The contracting authority must consider this evidence before deciding whether to exclude or include an applicant. In qualifying for inclusion in tender competitions for public contracts, applicants must submit signed declarations stating that none of the circumstances outlined in Regulation 53 of SI 329 or Article 45 of 2004/18/EC apply.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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197. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if a company (details supplied) has been successful in securing a public contract since the company was inspected by the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA; if so, whether any specific conditions have been put in place to ensure that the company is compliant with employment law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27868/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In relation to the general issue of employment law and its enforcement, these are matters for my colleague Mr. Richard Bruton, T. D. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) respectively.

The information sought by the Deputy is not recorded centrally in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for public contracts.  Contracting authorities are currently only obliged to publish contract award notices on the eTenders website and the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) for those contracts whose values exceed the EU thresholds.  The current EU threshold for works contracts is €5.186 million; for supplies and service contracts awarded by Government Departments the threshold is €134,000 and for the remainder of public bodies the threshold is €207,000. The threshold for supplies and service contracts of entities operating in utility sectors (water, energy, transport and postal) is €414,000.

The Office of Government Procurement who administers the eTenders website has advised that since January 2012 that the company, which is the subject of the Deputy's question, has not been awarded an above threshold contract. The management of a public works contract is a matter between a contracting authority and a main contractor.  It is the responsibility of each contracting authority to ensure that contractors comply with all the requirements of the contract.  If the Deputy is aware of any non-compliance he should contact the relevant contracting authority directly.