Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I tabled this question so there could be a general discussion on the issue. The reply is quite vague and I would like more information on the outcomes. The Minister referred to savings of €78 million to the end of this year, but are targets set by the central procurement facility for each line Department and are they available, or is it done centrally through the Office of Public Works? Perhaps the Minister would give the timescale for that. When something is being tendered, does the Department do it internally or externally and how does the Department make the call? Earlier, we talked about shared services internally. Sometimes it is possible to do it externally, although some people have reservations about it. However, if it is not a core activity of the organisation, such as administration, sometimes some of it could be done cheaper externally. The HSE representatives told the Committee of Public Accounts last week that the HSE was considering outsourcing the payroll and human resources, HR, facility in the HSE if it appears to be the right thing to do from a cost point of view. Does the Minister have any public sector and private sector comparators to decide which route to be taken? Was that done in respect of SUSI, Student Universal Support Ireland?

My final question is the hardy annual one about Garda cars. The Minister is familiar with the requirement that the cars be taken off the road at 300,000 km. I asked the chief superintendent at the joint policing committee in my constituency about that recently. He said it is national policy but, as he pointed out, no car in Ireland is better serviced and maintained than a Garda car because it must be in good condition. He thinks it is a tragedy and I do not know any garda who does not also think it is a tragedy. We are told this is because of procurement. The Garda Commissioner is grateful for the new cars this year and next year but do the tender documents sent by the Minister's office for those cars specify the 300,000 km requirement? The Department says the industry will not guarantee it, but how can four different companies all fix on the same figure? It has been stated at Oireachtas committee meetings by senior figures in the Department that the 300,000 km figure has been set by the industry. If it is not set by the industry, why is the Department setting it in the tender documents?

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