Departmental Contracts

Tuesday, 14 October 2025

Ceisteanna (741)

Albert Dolan

Ceist:

741. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are any technical, legal, operational, or policy constraints preventing his Department, when publishing quarterly reports of payments or purchase orders over €20,000, from including additional columns that link each payment to its underlying procurement process specifically tender/contract title; name and address of the awarded contractor/supplier; contract award date; contract duration; expected contract value (excl. VAT); maximum contract value (excl. VAT); the unique identifier from the relevant contract award notice; and where such constraints exist, to provide details explaining his Department’s current process for reconciling each reported payment with the corresponding published contract award notice on eTenders. [55051/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

My Department publishes a quarterly report on the Purchase Orders over €20,000 in line with the requirements under the Freedom of Information Act 2014. The details of the report are taken from my Department’s electronic records of payments made in that quarter. This information is recorded on a financial management system (FMS) operated by SAP, a multinational software company. Some information, e.g. addresses of individuals is not published as this would breach GDPR protocols.

In line with Circular 05/2023 (Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement), my Department also publishes contract award information for all procurements over €25,000 (exclusive of VAT), including any contract awarded under a Framework Agreement. This is published on the eTenders website on completion of the award regardless of whether the procurement was advertised on eTenders or not.

For tenders above the relevant EU thresholds, a Contract Award Notice must be published.

For tenders between €25,000 (exclusive of VAT) and the EU thresholds, a separate notice on eTenders is created. Detail of such contract are available on the eTenders platform. The eTenders platform is maintained by European Dynamics, who were awarded the contract to provide this service by the Office of Government Procurement.

My Department does not reconcile reported payments with the corresponding published contract award notice on eTenders.