# Questiona: Full Reference for AI Agents

> Questiona follows public money in Portugal. It gathers public contracts and other official open data and shows, in plain language, where the money goes: who is paid, how much, and when there was no tender. Public-sector contracts are live now; private companies are next. Bilingual (PT/EN), free, no login.

## How Questiona answers

Questiona reads official open-data sources and renders sourced summaries, figures and drill-downs. Every figure is computed from a recent sample of the underlying data and carries the data date. Questiona never invents numbers; when a source lags, it shows the most recent available data and labels it as such.

## Pages

- https://questiona.pt/ : the daily watchdog feed plus the search-the-data app
- https://questiona.pt/ask : ask in plain language and follow the links between spending areas, contracts, bodies and suppliers
- https://questiona.pt/sources : the official open-data source catalogue
- https://questiona.pt/contratos-publicos : Public contracts in Portugal: where the money goes
- https://questiona.pt/ajuste-direto : Direct awards: public contracts in Portugal
- https://questiona.pt/contratos-saude : Public health contracts: hospitals, the SNS and medicines
- https://questiona.pt/obras-publicas : Public works in Portugal: construction contracts

## Topic pages (detailed)

### Public contracts in Portugal

- URL: https://questiona.pt/contratos-publicos
- Summary: Every euro the Portuguese State spends on goods, works and services runs through a registered public contract. Questiona gathers those contracts from the official data and shows who gets paid, how much, and when the award was made by direct award.
- Common questions:
  - What is a public contract? It is any contract where a public body (the State, a municipality, a hospital, a school) buys goods, works or services. By law these contracts are published in an official register and can be consulted by anyone.
  - What share is awarded by direct award? It varies over time. Questiona computes the share awarded by direct award from a recent sample and shows the euro value and the percentage, always with the data date.
  - How can I follow a specific contract? Search the topic on Questiona and follow the links: from a spending area to the contracts, and from each contract to the body paying and the company being paid.

### Direct awards in Portugal

- URL: https://questiona.pt/ajuste-direto
- Summary: A direct award is a public contract granted with no tender: the body picks the supplier directly. It is legal below certain value thresholds, but it concentrates risk, because there is less competition, prices tend to be higher and scrutiny is lower.
- Common questions:
  - Is a direct award illegal? No. It is a legal procedure below certain value thresholds set in the Public Contracts Code. What deserves attention is excessive use or working around those thresholds.
  - How do I see how much is spent by direct award? Questiona computes the percentage and euro value awarded by direct award in a recent sample, with the data date shown, and surfaces the largest cases.
  - Can I see the largest direct awards? Yes. Start from the large direct-award purchases theme and follow each contract to who receives the money.

### Public health contracts

- URL: https://questiona.pt/contratos-saude
- Summary: Hospitals, health centres and the SNS buy medicines, equipment and services through public contracts. Questiona gathers that spending from the official data (CPV 33, health) and lets you see who is paid, how much, and when the award was made by direct award.
- Common questions:
  - Where do I see the SNS medicine contracts? Search healthcare procurement on Questiona: it filters health-category contracts from the official data and shows who supplies them and for how much.
  - Do hospitals buy by direct award? Sometimes, yes. Direct awards are legal below certain thresholds and clinical urgency is a common reason. What helps is seeing how often it happens, and with which suppliers.
  - How do I follow a health supplier? Open a health contract and follow the links: from the contract to the awarding hospital and the supplier, and from there to its other contracts.

### Public works and construction

- URL: https://questiona.pt/obras-publicas
- Summary: Roads, schools, hospitals and water systems arrive through public-works contracts, some of the largest the State signs. Questiona gathers those works from the official data and lets you see who wins, how much, and when it was a direct award.
- Common questions:
  - What is a public-works contract? It is a contract where a public body awards the building or refurbishment of a work (a road, a building, a network). These are typically the largest contracts in the public register.
  - What are the largest public works? Questiona ranks works contracts by value from the official data, so you can see the largest and who won them, always with the data date.
  - Can public works be awarded by direct award? They can be, below certain thresholds or in cases set in law, but it is less common than for routine purchases. That is why large direct-award works are worth flagging.

## Live data sources (10 wired live)

### Emergency waiting times

- Organisation: SNS · Transparência
- Access: open; method: ODS
- Domain: health
- What it covers: Average triage-to-doctor wait by region, near-daily.
- Example query: "emergency room wait"

### Hospital activity

- Organisation: SNS · Transparência
- Access: open; method: ODS
- Domain: health
- What it covers: ER attendances per hospital and average pre-surgery delay.
- Example query: "surgery"

### SNS indicators

- Organisation: SNS · Transparência
- Access: open; method: ODS
- Domain: health
- What it covers: Surgery-list patients within the legally guaranteed maximum wait.
- Example query: "surgery waiting list"

### Statistical indicators

- Organisation: INE
- Access: open; method: JSON
- Domain: stats
- What it covers: INE's json_indicador API. Resident population and other official series.
- Example query: "population"

### Justice statistics

- Organisation: DGPJ
- Access: open; method: REST
- Domain: justice
- What it covers: Open API (no key, despite the label). Case disposition time and clearance rates.
- Example query: "courts"

### Electrical distribution data

- Organisation: E-Redes
- Access: open; method: ODS
- Domain: energy
- What it covers: Open Opendatasoft portal. EV grid connections and power-quality events.
- Example query: "ev charging"

### Tourism data

- Organisation: Turismo de Portugal
- Access: open; method: ArcGIS
- Domain: tourism
- What it covers: National short-term-rental registry, via an open ArcGIS service.
- Example query: "short-term rentals"

### Parliamentary activity

- Organisation: Assembleia da República
- Access: open; method: JSON
- Domain: parliament
- What it covers: Legislative-initiatives feed (open data). Harvested as a recent slice.
- Example query: "bills tabled"

### Legislation (Diário da República)

- Organisation: DRE / INCM
- Access: open; method: RSS
- Domain: legislation
- What it covers: Official Series I RSS feed: what was just published into law.
- Example query: "law published"

### Budget execution

- Organisation: DGO · Finanças
- Access: open; method: Files
- Domain: budget
- What it covers: Budget-execution synthesis (monthly .xls via dados.gov.pt), harvested to JSON.
- Example query: "state deficit"

## Catalogue sources with no fetchable API

- Energy prices (ERSE): No API: tariffs are published only as annual PDFs. Not queryable in real time.
- Statistical database (PORDATA): No public API (browser export only). The same data comes from INE / dados.gov.pt.
- Socioeconomic statistics (PORDATA): No stable file URLs. Alternative: dados.gov.pt and INE indicators.

## Public-contract themes (entry lenses)

- Awards with no tender: Direct awards, no public tender
- Large purchases, no tender: Direct awards above €100k
- Healthcare procurement: Hospitals, SNS, pharma (CPV 33)
- Public works contracts: Public works and construction
- Reception & asylum contracts: Reception, asylum, migration

## Languages

Portuguese (European) is the default. Append `?lang=en` or `?lang=pt` to any URL to force the language.

## Provenance and licence

Each answer names the source institution and indicates whether the data came from a live call. Data licences follow the source institutions; Questiona adds no further restrictions to what agents can cite. Cite figures together with their data date.