Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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363. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Government Procurement will mandate enhanced pre-award checks for high-risk social care contracts (details supplied); if a clawback protocol for safeguarding breaches will be standardised across contracting authorities; and the timeframes for policy issuance. [48152/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Public Procurement is governed by EU legislation and national rules/guidelines. EU Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement (goods, services and works) has been transposed into Irish Law in the form of corresponding Regulation - S.I. No. 284/2016 - European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts), which forms the legal basis for the national rules governing public procurement.

Within Regulation SI 284/2016, Regulation 24 - Conflicts of interest, and Regulation 57 - Exclusion grounds, provide for beneficial ownership checks and director conviction declarations, respectively. It is explicitly stated in Regulation SI 284/2016 that measures to address conflicts of interest and decisions on exclusion grounds are matters for individual Contracting Authorities.

Concerning clawback provisions, my Department has made available a suite of template tender and contract documents, developed in conjunction with the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. These contract templates include remedies clauses that Contracting Authorities may select as applicable. The contract templates are designed in such a way as to allow individual Contracting Authorities to also include additional contractual clauses, specific to their contract, should they be required.

The Deputy should note, the Companies Registration Office and the vetting process fall under the remit of my colleagues, the Ministers for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, and Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, respectively.