Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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560. To ask the Minister for Health the number of contracts for market research worth more than €10,000 awarded by the Department of Health in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018; the value of each contract; the steps taken to ensure that small and medium enterprises were encouraged to apply for the contracts; the number of tenders in each case; the name of the successful company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35536/18]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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598. To ask the Minister for Health the number of contracts for market research worth more than €10,000 awarded by his Department in 2016, 2017 and to date in 2018; the value of each contract; the number of tenders in each case; the name of the successful company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35535/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 560 and 598 together.

The Healthy Ireland Survey provides an up-to-date picture of the nation's health, with a robust and credible set of data on a range of health related behaviours and health service utilisation patterns. The Survey involves in-home, face-to-face interviews lasting approximately 45 minutes, with a sample of approximately 7,500 individuals from across all regions, deemed representative of the Irish population aged 15 and over.

The Survey allows the Department to report credibly on a range of issues with significant impact on health outcomes, such as smoking, drinking, diet and obesity, physical activity, and mental health, as well as being able to provide reliable and timely data to fulfil international reporting requirements, to measure demand for health services and to provide up-to-date information to inform policy development and implementation.

In 2014, the Department contracted Ipsos MRBI to conduct the first Waves of the Healthy Ireland Survey, which has been conducted annually since 2015, at a cost per annum of €562,640 (€692,045 including VAT).

This contract expired in 2018, therefore, in line with best practice and the Department's legal obligations in relation to procurement, a Request for Tender was issued in April, 2018, inviting submissions for the conduct of the Survey over the next three to four years. Three tenders were received and evaluated by a Tender Evaluation Panel that included external experts in addition to Departmental officials. In line with the recommendation of the Tender Evaluation Panel, the contract was again awarded to Ipsos MRBI. The annual cost of the Survey under new contractual arrangements will be €719,346 (€884,796 including VAT).

Both the 2014 and 2018 contracts were advertised on the Office of Government Procurement's e-Tenders website in compliance with regulations and best practice guidelines in place at the time of publication. e-Tenders incorporates measures for SME inclusion. It should be noted there are a limited number of companies with the capacity to undertake such research in Ireland. Most, if not all, of these companies either registered an interest in the Request for Tender (RFT) or submitted tenders, indicating sufficient awareness of the RFT.

It should also be noted that the Healthy Ireland Survey is health research, not market research.