Oireachtas to spend €700k printing documents for TDs and senators

Tenders being sought from external contractors, despite having spent almost €2m on a new printer that was too big for its intended room

A total of 230 copies of the Dáil agenda will be printed each sitting day. File picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

The Houses of the Oireachtas is set to spend more than €700,000 producing printed copies of bills, acts, order papers, and other parliamentary documents for TDs and senators over the next two years.

The administrative body is currently seeking tenders from external contractors to provide the service, despite having spent almost €2m on a new printer that was too big to fit in its intended room in 2018.

Tender documents reveal that an estimated €700,000 plus Vat will be spent on the printing service over a period of 18 months and a possible six-month extension.

The successful contractor will be required to produce 250 copies of Government bills when they are initiated, along with a further 175 copies of the final version as amended or passed.

Five copies of each passed bill are printed on vellum for signature by the president and, once they become law, 170 copies of each act are produced, along with an additional 19 copies in Irish.

Other documents that will be printed under the contract include questions papers, 230 copies of which will be produced each Dáil sitting day. These typically comprise around 50 pages.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

A total of 230 copies of the Dáil agenda will be printed each sitting day, while 95 copies of the Seanad agenda will be required. The same number of order papers will be produced for each house, and can be up to 40 pages long.

Bound volumes of debates will also be produced — 25 copies in the case of the Dáil record and 27 in the case of the Seanad. Twenty copies of each will be delivered to an OPW warehouse.

The service provider will also be responsible for producing and distributing electronic copies of the documents, as well as delivering hard copies of certain items to Leinster House, Kildare House, the Department of An Taoiseach, and other locations.

Other items that the service provider may be required to supply include a print run of 225 copies of the Dáil standing orders and 200 copies of the Seanad standing orders, which typically comprise 130 and 120 pages, respectively.

The tender documents note that the services are “imperative to the functioning of parliament and for ensuring that all legislative and other parliamentary papers are available for members of the houses when needed”.

They also confirm that the Houses of the Oireachtas has an in-house print facility which may refer some material to the contractor in the event that it is not possible to produce it on-site.