I propose to take Questions Nos. 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 together.
The principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces for the acquisition of goods and services. This is an EU law requirement and is in accordance with the Defence and Security Directive.
Central to those procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition between suppliers through the submission of tenders following advertising of the tender competition on the e-tenders site and on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), where appropriate.
Trade policy and market access are largely EU competencies, and such tender competitions are open to any company or country, subject to the terms of all UN, OSCE and EU arms embargoes or restrictions. The Department of Defence is required to deal impartially with all companies that are entitled to enter tender competitions and tenders must be evaluated on the basis of objective criteria. EU procurement rules direct that defensive equipment contracts be awarded on a merit based system having regard to selection and award criteria published in the competition concerned.
The ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 has made it clear that all States must abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the occupied Palestinian territory that may entrench its unlawful presence there.
Directive 2009/81/EC sets out European rules for public procurement in the fields of defence and security and applies in principle to all contracts for the procurement of military equipment, works and services as well as procurement of sensitive supplies, works and services for security purposes. This Directive allows for certain exclusions or restrictions to access to tender competitions by third country bidders.
Since the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024, the Department has included provisions in its tender documentation regarding the right to reject offers from third countries, which includes Israel, on defence and security grounds, in line with the Commission guidance on the procurement of defensive equipment under Directive 2009/18/EU.
There is currently no intention to purchase military equipment from Israel.
