Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are going to invite the Office of Government Procurement in for a special meeting on procurement and to address two issues. I am jumping on to the work programme. Week in and week out we are seeing reports audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of non-compliance with Government procurement. In recent months - I want to check if it is since the start of this Dáil term and will ask that to be verified - in respect of every financial statement that comes in with a reference to that in it, the committee is formally requesting an official response, compiling a response, and asking the Office of Government Procurement for its response on those matters because it is over Government procurement. We will include in the invitation that we want them to go through the 42 Government Department Votes that are put through the Oireachtas. The Comptroller and Auditor General glanced through them this morning. Some Departments and Votes of the Oireachtas have non-compliance with Government procurement. I want to know what the Office of Government Procurement is doing in respect of Government Departments. I want it to summarise the most recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of every incident. I could ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to do it but I think it is time the Office of Government Procurement stepped up to the mark. If it is only here in the business of sending out circulars with no follow-up it is no good to anybody. As part of that meeting, exactly as Deputy Connolly said, we will ask if they are designing their strategies in an appropriate manner to give the best value in an overall context.