Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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186. To ask the Taoiseach the number of contracts approved in his Department in 2019 and to date in 2020 without competitive tender; the details of the contract; the company awarded the contract; and the full value of the contract in tabular form. [33280/20]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department liaises closely with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on all matters related to public procurement and monitors all areas of expenditure on an ongoing basis to ensure that value for money is being achieved.

Under Department of Finance Circular 40/02, my Department makes annual returns to the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of contracts above a €25,000 threshold which are awarded without a competitive process. Contracts awarded without a competitive process are not necessarily non-compliant with procurement guidelines.

In 2019 one contract was awarded without a competitive tender to a value of €61,473. The State reception marking the 100th anniversary of the first Dáil was held in the Mansion House on 21st January 2019. The Department was obliged to use the services provided by the Mansion House’s retained in-house catering firm MHL Event Management and was not in a position to seek an alternative supplier for the event.

My Department's Finance Unit has not identified the awarding of any non-compliant contracts to date in 2020 through its active monitoring but the 2020 position cannot be fully confirmed until the end of the year