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

When this office was set up I supported it, but I am disappointed at the rate of implementation. I said they seemed very busy. I said I supported the principle of centralisation, but I want it to be in touch. The Minister has said he is still waiting to recruit 60 staff into that organisation. It has been in operation for two years and the full complement of staff still has not been recruited. It was one thing last year to claim we had a plan of expenditure of €12.5 million and we spent less than half of it. I hope that was a lesson to the people involved to get on with the job. This House of the Oireachtas voted substantial funding for it this year, €18.9 million.

How many public bodies does it deal with? How many service level agreements are expected to be in place ultimately? How many are already in place especially for the organisations that are the lead buyers? How many service level agreements are in place for bodies such as Kerry County Council for local authority purchasing, the HSE which is still the lead buyer for other services, and the Department of Defence which still does its own work?

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