Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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198. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 863 of 6 November 2018, the amount paid to a company (details supplied) for the advice it received; if his predecessor engaged the Office of Government Procurement on both concession agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48468/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department engages with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) for procurement support and advice on an as needed basis since that Office commenced operations in 2014. MyDepartment undertook two public procurements for a Concessionaire to manage operate and maintain the Metropolitan Area Networks Phase I and Phase II in 2003 and 2007 respectively in compliance with national and EU procurement regulations. Contract notices for both procurements were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. These procurements preceded the establishment of the Office of Government Procurement.

In March 2017, in compliance with EU and national procurement regulations and informed by legal advice and the advice of external consultants, the MAN’s Concession Agreements were extended to co-terminate in 2030 to provide certainty to telecommunications service providers in the telecoms market. The extensions were in accordance with explicit provisions in each Concession Agreement which allowed for an extension of up to a maximum of 10 years and no procurement was undertaken.

The cost of the independent expert advice amounted to €28,228 (incl. VAT) in addition to internal departmental costs.