2026-07-07

4. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the national procurement strategy, which was due to be published earlier this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51494/26]

Will the Minister provide an update on the national procurement strategy, which, as I understood it, was to be published earlier this year? I brought forward legislation in relation to procurement and was told that we had to take a wait-and-see approach on foot of the work that was happening in respect of procurement.

The forthcoming national public procurement strategy will set the strategic direction for public procurement in Ireland for the next five years. The strategy will for the first time establish a shared vision, values and objectives for the public procurement system, providing a common framework for the procurement of goods, services and works across the public sector. Given the scale and ambition of the strategy, it was important that sufficient time was taken to ensure that its development and implementation are informed by stakeholder engagement, evidence-based policymaking and practical delivery considerations. We have been engaging with our officials to finalise the strategy and ensure that the necessary preparatory work is undertaken and that the foundations are laid for its successful implementation. A number of initiatives aligned with the strategy's vision, values and objectives are already being progressed across the public procurement system, including measures to support sustainable procurement, SME participation, transparency and simplification. In parallel, significant preparatory work has been undertaken to establish the governance, capability and stakeholder engagement arrangements necessary to support its successful implementation across the public sector. Among the recent initiatives introduced are a new series of webinars to deliver procurement essentials to SMEs, representation from the social enterprise sector joining the SME advisory group and journey-mapping exercises with public buyers and suppliers to identify opportunities for simplification and practical co-design solutions. Taken together, the extensive consultation process, the preparatory work undertaken to date and the initiatives already under way will provide a strong foundation for the effective implementation of the strategy across the public sector. I expect to bring the strategy to Government in the coming weeks.

The issue that I have is that this time last year, I brought forward legislation specifically around procurement. We know that billions of euro are spent on procurement every year. We know that if this money is spent in a way that will benefit society, it can have a massive social, environmental and, indeed, economic impact. To be honest, the Government is moving far too slowly when it comes to tackling this issue. This is something that can have an economic benefit. The Minister of State and I are both from the west of Ireland. The impact that good use of procurement, tendering and contracts can have on small communities is massive. Is consideration being given to how the strategy can be used in smaller geographical areas that may not have the economic strength that other areas have in order to ensure that those areas can withstand economic shocks?

I share the Deputy's view. The strategy has not been delayed. As I stated previously, this will be Ireland's first overarching strategy for public procurement. It will set the direction of travel to 2030 to support delivering the Government's commitments. Given the scale and ambition of the strategy, it is important that it is informed by extensive stakeholder engagement, a robust evidence base and careful consideration of implementation arrangements. It is important to note that significant work has already been undertaken in this regard. We are engaging closely with my officials to finalise the strategy and to ensure that the conditions for its successful implementation are in the place. The Deputy referred to SMEs and local communities. She is absolutely right. This will help SMEs, but, more importantly, it will also help small family businesses and local communities. The strategy will take into consideration many of the matters she mentioned.

I am probably one of the people who is most looking forward, apart from the Minister of State, obviously, to reading the strategy. I hope that it will look two things. First, the economic impact we can have with the money that is spent. That impact can be huge, economically, socially and environmentally. There is a massive impact we can have, particularly if we look at what has happened in places like Preston, for example, and how measures there have worked. The strategy also needs to look at cost overruns and at how public money is wasted. The legislation I brought forward this time last year, in respect of which the Government kicked the can down the road, suggested that information should be provided in an annual report by the Minister to show the type of procurement procedure used by public bodies, the use and type of social clauses in contracts, details on contracts awarded to SMEs and a scoring of the performance of contractors in the context of whether they go over time and over budget. Will the Minister of State commit to looking at that?

I am very mindful of how time-poor small businesses are. We want to put them at the centre of the strategy from its inception. The idea for the strategy derived from a programme for Government commitment to review the public procurement process and make it much more transparent. We are trying to support SMEs in identifying and pursuing public procurement opportunities. In most businesses - and I was part of a business myself - you would work all hours of the day and would you want to step in a back office and go through these applications? We also are trying to work with mentors who will help small businesses with their applications. The strategy is trying to redefine value for money but include longer-term social value for Irish taxpayers. A pillar of that strategy will focus on procuring for the future and we want to embed social and environmental innovation, as well as local social resilience, into the current public procurement strategy.