Public tenders:The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources awarded a €500,000 contract without a public tender to an Enterprise Ireland official who took a career break to do work he previously carried out for Enterprise Ireland, the C&AG's report found.
Exceptional circumstances came into play, but Mr Purcell said the way in which difficulties in the case were overcome was "less than ideal".
He made the same remark about the award of a €28,000 contract by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the chairman of its audit committee.
The contract with the Enterprise Ireland official was agreed after that body decided to disengage from the provision of certain services to the Irish offshore sector.
The duties passed to the department, which entered a contract with a company whose principal had been engaged in that line of work with Enterprise Ireland before its disengagement.
"He took a career break from Enterprise Ireland to set up and head the company. The estimated value of the contract, spanning five years from 2004, is €500,000."
In the case of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the report said the office had an urgent need to review the manner in which its internal management control procedures operated because a decision in a particular case took longer than acceptable.
"The director engaged the chairman of the office's audit committee without competitive tender to undertake a review as his skill set was considered to uniquely qualify him to undertake this review expeditiously."
