David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

61. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his approach to companies receiving large public procurement contracts and yet not recognising trade unions when industrial issues arise. [19807/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Public procurement is governed by EU and National rules. The EU Treaty principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination, transparency, mutual recognition, proportionality, free movement of goods and services and the right of establishment must be observed on all tenders.

EU rules require tenderers to be compliant with relevant labour law in order to participate in a public procurement process. The Directive makes it clear that non-compliance with the relevant obligations may lead to exclusion of a tenderer from the procedure for the awarding of a public contract. This Directive was transposed into Irish law in May of this year.

The obligations in relation to labour law are reflected in the standard tender and contract documents developed by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) in conjunction with the Chief State Solicitor's Office.

In the case of the goods and services, Schedule A of the template contract obliges contractors to comply with all applicable laws that apply at the place where the good/services are provided, that have been established by EU law, national law, collective agreements and by international, environmental, social and labour law listed in Annex X of Directive 2014/24/EU. In the case of works, Clause 5.3 of the Public Works Contracts requires contractors to respect the right under law of workers to be members of trade unions and provides access for trade union officials having concerns in relation to a contractor's or contractors' personnel's compliance with an agreement to a designated member of the contractor's management. A main contractor is required to provide a Certificate of Compliance with Clause 5.3 with each payment claim submitted (normally on a monthly basis). Failure to provide this compliance certificate will result in payment not being made by the contracting authority. The ultimate sanction if a main contractor continues to be non-compliant is for the main contract to be terminated. The management of the tendering process is a matter for each contracting authority.

Finally, I would point out that enforcement of employment law is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has responsibility for inspection of compliance in this area.