Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach if there is a corporate procurement plan in place in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43905/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 7: To ask the Taoiseach if procurement procedures in his Department take into account carbon footprint of the goods and services sought; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6331/07]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 8: To ask the Taoiseach if his Department will become carbon neutral by 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6332/07]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Taoiseach his plans to ensure that his Department will become carbon neutral by 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8368/07]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 9, inclusive, together.

Following a detailed analysis of our current arrangements in the procurement of goods and services, a corporate procurement plan has been prepared with a view to improving the procurement function within my Department. The plan sets objectives to improve the way the Department acquires and pays for goods and services. The plan will be kept under review, especially in respect of amendments which may be necessary arising from a possible move to a shared financial services platform.

My Department complies with guidance on the procurement of supplies and services as set out in the public procurement guidelines, as well as implementing as appropriate all additional procurement guidelines published by the Department of Finance. These guidelines set out the steps to be followed in conducting an appropriate competitive process under EU and national rules.

The EU procurement directives allow for certain environmental criteria to be considered in the procurement process and the Government is preparing an action plan for green public procurement, with the aim of achieving by 2010 a level of green procurement equal on average to that achieved by best performing EU member states. The plan will focus on issues such as targets to be achieved, how to drive the adoption of green procurement by public and semi-public authorities, indicators for measuring progress and the legal and administrative framework for public procurement.

Reflecting the Department's broader policy remit, we have included in our corporate procurement plan a commitment to support waste recycling and energy saving, as well as the use of recycled paper, wherever possible.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What is the level of best practice within the European Union referred to by the Taoiseach in respect of public procurement? The Irish public sector spends approximately €19 billion every year in buying goods and services. In 2004, for example, the Northern Ireland office identified a three-year public service saving of approximately €250 million in their spend of €1.7 billion in buying public services and so on.

The Fine Gael and Labour parties, in a document entitled The Buck Stops Here, recommended the establishment of a public buying office which would operate within the Department of Finance and which would report to the Minister of State at that Department. Given the scales and volumes involved in purchasing goods and services for the Department of the Taoiseach and other Departments, does the Taoiseach believe the idea of a public buying office would be of great benefit? It would be possible to purchase significant quantities and the scales of economies could therefore apply in the public interest. There could be serious savings.

What is the Government's point of view? Has the Department of the Taoiseach put forward any particular views on the issue?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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For many years the OPW has centralised buying contracts and the Department of Finance public procurement guidelines cover that. Most of the departmental costs are under contracts under the procurement policies of the Department of Finance, with the OPW being the centralised buyer in a large range of areas.

Expenditure in operating my Department is incurred across a range of goods and services, including travel services, staff training and development, telecommunications and office equipment, premises expenses, information technology, and library and consultancy costs. The average annual cost is approximately €3 million.

In accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Finance published approximately three years ago, every Department must have a procurement plan, which is a detailed analysis of procurement activities and expenditure. This was undertaken because it provides information on a great amount of expenditure in the various categories of procurement, which will inform departmental practices in future. Every Department does this, but it feeds into the better guidelines of the procurement section in the Department of Finance.

My Department complies with the guidance on the procurement of supplies and services as set out in the guidelines. The guidelines not only cover Irish issues regarding competitive tendering, but also EU and national rules. It is not the case that each Department buys on its own. As all of the duplicated expenditure is being centralised, we get big economies of scale.

The increased complexity and importance of purchasing decisions by public bodies is leading to a far more strategic focus and improved management of the public procurement process. The effective and efficient procurement policy, the procedures and the practices can have a significant impact on the accountability and value for money aspects of the purchase of goods and services by the State. The potential for real savings from more effective procurement policies and practices is significant. The OPW can show a considerable amount of data, which we get all of the time. Achieving savings is important because it frees up resources that can be redirected to other services.

The procurement section in the Department of Finance has examined better outcomes internationally and is always looking for improved compliance with existing rules and better moves. My only worry in this regard is that we in this country are sometimes very pure in terms of how we follow these rules as opposed to other countries. We go all over the world to get the best value for money, sometimes at the expense of our own companies. My colleagues on the Council and those in Fine Gael's European grouping find imaginative ways around EU procurement rules to keep business at home.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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That is true.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a down side in that one can get the best value for money, but one can affect jobs at home. That is my only argument, but I lose it usually because we tend to play by the rules in this country.

The main aim of the national policy on procurement is to achieve value for money while having regard to probity and accountability. While price is important in determining value for money, the outcome of procurement, particularly for certain categories of purchases, is not the only variable to be considered. Value for money also encompasses non-cost factors. When purchasing goods or services, consideration should be given to whether they are fit for the purpose intended and of sufficient quality and whether the level of service support provided meets the requirements. These issues are covered well.

The national public procurement policy unit was set up in the Department of Finance five years ago. Its role is to develop public sector procurement policy and practice and it has done a good job in changing practices across the public sector. It is an active section in terms of trying to enforce value for money, but there is an issue when contracts become larger because they then fall under the EU directive. The contracts will be won internationally, but some significant countries do not play by the same purist rules as we do. This sometimes has a negative effect on companies, particularly those in the printing industry, where many large contracts are going outside the country, but if one follows the guidelines the way one should, there is not much that can be done about that.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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On the plans of the Department of the Taoiseach to become carbon neutral, has a target date been set and what changes might be imposed on the Department? Has any comparison been carried out between, for example, the greater use of commercial travel and ministerial travel in terms of yesterday's discussion? I appreciate that the business of Government is becoming more complex and I understand the need for speedy travel arrangements, but the figure in question has climbed dramatically in recent years. We have just had an exchange about the capacity of modern technology to ease that burden. I presume this is a dimension of the Department of the Taoiseach's performance that has a significant impact in terms of carbon emissions.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a plan across Departments, including mine, to help reduce carbon emissions. It covers a range of areas. I will return to the matter of travel in a minute, but the plan deals particularly with recycling, reusing and how we handle old machines, such as computers, copiers and so on. There is a rigorous plan to comply with the needs. It comes down to the lights policy, namely, turning out lights. It is a detailed plan and is being monitored.

Following the plan is a bit easier in my Department because there are people in the building 24 hours a day, including military police. It is easy to keep everything in line. There is a procurement plan regarding purchases that take account of environmental needs. There are plans to do even more and the Department would admit that we could do new things, ranging from brown bins to using some parts of old computers. A big effort is being made.

On transport, the Department is trying to do more work regarding conference meetings to cut down on the level of travel. To be frank, this has as much to do with the efficiency of the Department as it does with the carbon footprint, but there are more and more conference meetings. For example, the touring Presidency is fast dying as a practice. We are in March and I have not seen my German colleagues, but I have heard them. The Deputy knows how the situation would have been in the past. A big effort is being made.

In terms of the value for money of transport, we do not have as many Brussels-based meetings, which are mainly attended by my officials. A lot can be done via conference sessions to reduce the amount of committee meetings being held in Brussels. The Irish Presidency's dramatic reduction in the number of meetings is holding well. We do not need 200 people or 300 people to attend the meetings. If everyone limited it to 15 people or 20 people for the bigger countries, we could cut down on a lot of travel. There are practical things that can be done. We have a small team, but some countries' teams are of ridiculous sizes.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I welcome that the Department of the Taoiseach will become carbon neutral at some stage, but does the Taoiseach agree that as leader of the country, he should lead by example? Will he tell the House what he will do to reduce his carbon footprint? I do not expect to see him on a bicycle soon, but will he change his car and take public transport occasionally so he can see what people must suffer? If he saw what people must deal with, he might improve the situation. I hope the Taoiseach agrees that climate change is the biggest change facing humanity and by extension the most important electoral issue. Will he make that statement here today? Would he also agree that, as the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has said, what we need now is an all-party agreement as regards climate change? Would the Taoiseach be prepared to make that statement?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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This question refers specifically to the Department of the Taoiseach.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach is here in front of me and he leads that Department.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is a matter for the Department.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I would very much welcome a statement by the Taoiseach.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I think Deputy Gormley might agree that what we are doing as regards recycling, which comes under my Department, is significant. We have come from very low levels of recycling in this country to extraordinary achievements. We have gone way ahead of our targets and surpassed what other countries are doing. We are way ahead in terms of EU levels. In the climate change strategy as well as the White Paper, both of which will be published before Easter, we have set out the actions to be taken, including a steeply ambitious target to deliver one third of the electricity from renewable sources by 2020, optimising the use of new technology for co-generation of power stations with biomass and planning, the use of carbon capture, a clean goal generation technology, creating new opportunities for farmers in bio-fuel production, a new bio-fuel industry, introducing minimal requirements for the use of bio-fuels in State companies, public transport, requiring the public sector to lead the way in energy efficiency, improving the energy efficiency of new homes by up to 40%——

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach and his Department.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am promoting and pressing all of these policies. I was on the DART twice recently and the Deputy is right. I came to realise how much better it is and how much more sociable and efficient than being stuck in traffic. The Deputy was perfectly right.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach should try a train sometime.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I was on the Luas as well and he is right that the standard of public transport has changed dramatically. I have not been on the new buses yet, but I shall try that, too, through the new bus corridors.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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One cannot get a bus to Donnycarney.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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He is correct in saying these are better ways to travel than being stuck in traffic.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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One cannot get a bus in north central Dublin.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I passed Deputy Finian McGrath the other day while I was in the car and he was walking, so I accept he was giving good example.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I was bopping.