Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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235. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the impact of Brexit on companies from Northern Ireland applying for public works and Government contracts here. [23073/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Public procurement is governed by EU and national rules and must comply with relevant EU, World Trade Organisation (WTO) and national legal requirements and obligations. Under EU rules, public contracts above certain values must be advertised EU-wide and awarded in competitive tendering in an open and transparent process. National rules provide for similar processes. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime delivering transparency and best value for money outcomes. The aforementioned rules have been developed in tandem with the WTO rules on procurement and are therefore flexible in a global context.

The general requirements for public works and works-related government contracts are set out in the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). The CWMF represents the tools that a public body must use to procure and manage the external resources necessary to deliver a public works project that is to be delivered under the Exchequer-funded element of the National Development Plan. The CWMF incorporates key elements of EU legislation that have been transposed into Irish law and is complemented by Circulars and Guidance issued by this Department and the Office of Government Procurement.

The EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), which reflects the NI Protocol, contains specific provisions ensuring access to the public procurement markets of both parties. The principal aspects, for above the EU threshold procurements, include inter alia:

- Continued access to public procurement opportunities in both jurisdictions to interested providers and;

- Non-discrimination obligations to ensure that interested providers in each jurisdiction are treated no less favourably than nationally-based providers.

Additionally, the TCA provides for reciprocal treatment and access to procurement opportunities for companies established in each other’s jurisdiction for below-threshold procurements.

The Common Travel Area (CTA) also provides additional rights to UK and Irish citizens to live and work in both jurisdictions. The combined effect of the TCA, the NI Protocol and the CTA means that procurement opportunities in both jurisdictions remain open to businesses on both sides of the border.