Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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63. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he is satisfied that all bodies under his Department's remit are receiving value for money; his views on the 182 breaches amounting to €45 million of public procurement guidelines in 2016; the steps he is taking to ensure this matter is resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22701/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that every effort is made to ensure that the voted allocations for the Justice Vote Group are expended in an effective and efficient manner to ensure value for money is obtained.

The total budget for the Justice Vote Group in 2018 is in region of €2.58 billion of which €1.89 billion (74%) relates to payroll and superannuation; €540 million (21%) is non pay current expenditure and €144 million (5%) is capital related. There are six votes in the Justice Vote Group in 2018 and it is the responsibility of each Accounting Officer to ensure that all expenditure is properly expended and accounted for culminating in a Statement of Internal Financial Control which accompanies the annual appropriation account for each Vote.

There is a range of oversight measures in place across the Justice sector which supports the process of ensuring that value for money is derived from voted expenditure. A Financial Management Committee comprising of the senior finance representatives from each of the Vote areas meets on a monthly basis to review expenditure against budget across the entire Vote Group. In turn, the governance agreements in place with the various agencies and bodies under the remit of the Department reflect the need for appropriate financial and budgetary oversight and management and each Vote area has appropriate finance units and internal audit functions, relative to the size, legal framework, and complexity of the organisation in place. This further strengthens financial management across the sector to ensure that voted funding is spent appropriately and value for money is obtained.

The specific figures cited by the Deputy refer in approximate terms to the supply arrangements reported under Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 40/2002 across all of the Votes in the Justice Group in 2016. These relate to scenarios where tendering is not deemed feasible and a return is made to the Comptroller and Auditor General in compliance with that circular. It is important to point out that the vast majority of procurements are the subject of up to date tender competitions, many of which are now run in conjunction with the Office of Government Procurement. Every effort is made to minimise the number of supply arrangements which fall to be reported under Circular 40/02. However, across Departments generally there will always be some procurement arrangements which fall to be reported under this circular including for example in relation to the proprietary nature of goods and services where there is a sole supplier of the goods or services in question or where annual licensing renewals arise including for example in relation to ICT software and systems. There are other situations where tendering may not always be feasible, such as where specific specialist knowledge is required, where urgency is a factor or where it has been necessary to extend a pre-existing contract for a period of time pending new tender competitions being completed.