Agencies fail to put €75m in projects out to tender

OVER €75 million was paid for goods and services last year under contracts that were not put out to competitive tender.

At least 469 contracts with an average value of almost €160,000 were not put out to tender, despite rules saying that any contract worth over €25,000 should be open to competition unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The true numbers are believed to be higher, as the C&AG & found 21 non-competitive contracts with a total value of €4.4m that had not been declared by various departments.