Frankie Feighan

I welcome the opportunity to deliver a closing statement on this Bill on behalf of the Government. I thank colleagues from all sides of the House for their contributions to today’s discussion. Let me begin by reiterating our shared commitment to unity on this island. For the record, I come from a very strong Fenian and republican tradition. My grandfather on my father’s side, Felix Feehan from Cul…

The Office of Government Procurement, a division of my Department, acts as a central purchasing body, aggregating the State's purchasing power and establishing framework agreements for a range of commodities, including ICT goods and services. The establishment of a national-level framework is a significant undertaking. OGP framework agreements are established based on public sector bodies' needs a…

We are reviewing the operation of the existing framework and obtaining relevant input from subject matter experts across the public service to improve the scope, specification and features. We are obtaining relevant market-specific commercial advice from IT market analysts and industry experts, and also obtaining legal advice from the CSSO. As part of the OGP’s governance process, we are conductin…

The current framework expires in September 2027. Until then, public service bodies can continue to procure renewals of their Microsoft licences in line with the rules governing the existing framework agreement. The OGP's objective is to ensure that it can aggregate the State's expenditure, delivering value for money in all the expenditure categories that it manages. The OGP also remains committed …

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 o…

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 an…

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…

My Department has responsibility for public procurement policy development, guidance, systems and advisory services, as well as the establishment of central buying solutions that serve the needs of public service bodies, PSBs. My Department provides a wide range of supports to assist public service bodies in the procurement of information and communications technology systems and services, both th…

My Department provides broad governance, oversight and strategic supports for digital and ICT initiatives. The arrangements for the oversight of digital and ICT-related initiatives in the civil and public service require PSBs to obtain approval from my Department before commencing new digital or ICT initiatives, publishing procurement documentation or entering into commitments involving expenditur…

I take the Deputy’s valid concerns on board. While my Department provides extensive guidance, oversight and procurement supports, individual PSBs ultimately retain responsibility for determining the suitability of their requirements, governance arrangements, project delivery approaches and the successful implementation of ICT projects under their remit. There is support for the Public Appointments…

No.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien. I would like to clarify that the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. I am familiar with Loughshinny, …

The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services nationally, working with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. In this regard, while it is the NTA's priority to provide scheduled public transport services on the Transport for Ireland, TFI, netwo…

I assure the Deputy that the NTA meets all public transport operators on a regular basis and advises event promoters about what, if any, additional public transport services are available for particular events. Some events are organised without any input or involvement from the NTA. As a result, the authority may not be aware of them until a very late stage. The NTA suggested that there may be a n…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Department owns, operates and maintains six designated State-owned fishery harbour centres, located at Castletownbere, Dingle, Dunmore East, Howth, Killybegs and Ros An Mhíl, under statute. It also has responsibility for Cape Clear, Cleggan and some piers, lights and beacons. Fishery harbour centres are established under the Fishery Harbour Centres Ac…

I thank the Deputy for his measured approach. The process taking two years is reason enough for him to raise this important issue here. It is welcome that the Department maintains an open and proper relationship with the tenant and is always available to provide an update on progress or to address any queries. As recently as 25 June, the Department provided an email update to the tenant on the cur…

On behalf of the Minister for children, I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue and affording her the opportunity to respond. The Minister would like to make clear at the outset that the safety and well-being of the children in the care of Oberstown, and of the staff who support them, is and will remain the highest priority. The Minister notes that Oberstown, as the employer, is e…

The Minister and I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which is a priority for the Department and I will bring his concerns back to the Minister. In the medium term, there has been a significant increase of €5.75 million in capital funding for Oberstown under the National Development Plan 2026-2030. This sustained investment reflects the Government's commitment to ensuring the campu…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 23 together. The Government's better public services strategy commits to delivering inclusive, high-quality and integrated public services that meet people's needs and improve the delivery of services. The Digital Public Services Plan 2030 advances this ambition by embedding a life events methodology whereby services are designed around moments in people's l…

We all have issues, and the Deputy has rightly articulated the issue relating to his area being included. If we look at it from a positive point of view, I understand that NBI is ahead of schedule. However, there are a few areas in respect of which we may need to contact NBI. We talk about public infrastructure. This is public infrastructure that is ahead of what was planned for. Enabling access …

It is an interesting question. The Deputy has seen that the Government can consult with banks, but we have a very limited role in that regard. I would like to think that banks would consult with each other. Consider the position of towns where there clearly is no need for two bank branches and both are closed. Instead of talking to each other and saying "Look, we will close our branch in this town…

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this important issue and for offering the Minister the opportunity to respond. As the Deputy outlined, when families are stronger, they works very well. I have full confidence in and great time for the family resource centres. When I started out in politics many years ago, they were known as family life centres. I remember as a councillor, before I became a Se…

The Minister and I thank the Deputy for engaging in this important issue. He outlined how important the family resource centre is for Balbriggan and north County Dublin. It is quite obvious that more is probably needed. The Minister is very pleased with the range of recent developments across the family resource centre programme. Core funding increases and expansion over 2025 and 2026 have been ve…

I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter today. As An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions on the size, distribution and future of the network, are matters for the board and the management of the company and not ones in which either the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, or the Ministe…

I have listened with interest to the points the Deputy raised. Decisions on post offices, as we have indicated, are operational matters for An Post and are not a matter over which the Minister has statutory function. The Deputy outlined clearly that the Minister and the Government have a shareholding. He has asked them to use that leverage to make his views known. As I said, however, he cannot int…