Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am aware the Minister's Department has done work on social clauses. It is one of only seven Departments to have done so. The Minister has mentioned the involvement of social enterprises in the provision of sensory facilities and equipment in public libraries. I welcome and acknowledge that. I also acknowledge that a public body under the Minister's Department, Pobal, has also done work in this regard. The main problem is that the only reason I know this is because I gathered the data myself. I contacted 18 Departments, 184 public bodies and 31 local authorities to get that information. Information on social clauses really should be included in the annual reports of all Departments. As information on green procurement will appear in these annual reports, it makes sense to also collect information on social clauses and social procurement. As the Minister's Department is one of the seven to have led the way on this, will she commit to examining whether such information on social clauses could also be included in her Department's annual report?

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