Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The interim procurement reform board was appointed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in May 2017 to provide oversight to the delivery of the procurement reform programme, advise the Government on national public procurement strategy and advise on the objectives and business plans of the Office of Government Procurement, OGP. The board meets quarterly and presents an annual report to me, as the Minister of State with special responsibility for public procurement. The most recent report, for 2020, was published in August and is available on the OGP’s website.

The board comprises 11 members. Two are independent members recruited from outside the public sector, eight are senior public servants drawn from across a wide variety of Departments and the chair is a former Secretary General of Department of Defence, now retired.

The terms of reference include that the board shall oversee the implementation of the public procurement reform programme which has had considerable success to date. Governance arrangements have been established to foster collaboration and co-operation across the OGP and the main sectors of health, local government, education and defence. Through the development of a suite of centralised commercial arrangements, the Government’s purchasing power has been leveraged by speaking to the market with one voice. Procurement reform has delivered a programme of policy supports for SMEs and has built an awareness in industry regarding the opportunities arising from public procurement.

The OGP has been developing proposals on the refinement of public procurement following consultation with our colleagues across government and industry. These will further enhance public procurement, building on the progress to date, with a greater focus and emphasis on sustainability, social responsibility, SME access, innovation, digitalisation and professionalisation.

The Government has set out a number of commitments in the programme for Government in relation to public procurement, including evaluating and managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of procurement strategies within the State, developing and implementing a sustainable procurement policy and tasking the Office of Government Procurement to update all procurement frameworks in line with green procurement practice. These commitments enhance work already under way by the OGP to promote wider policy considerations in their work.

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