1026. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the activities undertaken by the National Standards Authority of Ireland that are outsourced to private contractors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60422/26]

My Department has been advised by NSAI that the activities undertaken by it are primarily conducted by staff employed by NSAI, but they do also use private contractors, where warranted. The use of private contractors can be availed of for certain activities such as specialist audit activities, technical document review, independent specialist laboratories, and to support the delivery of certification activities such as Management systems certification audits (for example: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and ISO 50001).