Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is satisfied with the work of the Central Procurement Function; the savings that he expects it to achieve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51641/12]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The National Procurement Service, NPS, was established in April 2009 on foot of a Government decision assigning responsibility for procurement to the Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works. All functions of the former Government Supplies Agency were subsumed into this newly established unit. The NPS is tasked with centralising public sector procurement arrangements for common goods and services not including the construction sector. It has also become a centre of excellence for the provision of procurement advice and implementing procurement policy in line with best practice and Government initiatives, including the continued development of e-procurement strategies.

Through the aggregation of demand for common goods across the public sector the NPS can leverage the market, ensuring potential suppliers can offer significant cost savings on the products being tendered for through volume discounts. The NPS has reported estimated procurement savings to the end of 2012 under its frameworks of €127 million, comprising €14 million in 2010, a further €36 million in 2011 and projected savings of €78 million for 2012. The e-Tenders website generates estimated administrative savings of on average €10 million per annum.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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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?

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is correct, we have ambitious targets for procurement. If we are to reduce public expenditure, public sector procurement has a key role. A recent report from Accenture, which the Government accepted, shows that over a three year period between €250 million and €630 million can be saved by better public procurement. What has happened to date, and I believe I mentioned this at the last committee meeting, is that with the national procurement service established we set up frameworks for things such as energy, postal costs, State advertising, to manage print services and so forth. We have these frameworks but we have not had the buy-in to date from all of the public sector to use them where the discounts are available. The first decision the Government took in July this year was on a mandate to ensure that the centralised frameworks were put in place and are being used. We have told all public sector procurers, of which we have too many and I am on record for saying that, that these frameworks are in place, they are huge value for money and we are now telling people to use them or explain to us why they are not being used.

Second, as the Minister said recently, we will shortly make an announcement about a new head of procurement, and the procurement section will be under the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. We will be able to drive the process because we now have the tools to do it.

I will see if I can organise a meeting with the Deputy on the question of Garda cars. My understanding is that the task of the NPS was simply to establish a framework and the Garda would decide what it would do on the basis of value for money. It is never the task of the NPS to make those decisions. Its task is to cut out the administration, get more discount through the frameworks and to ensure that the public sector providers use those frameworks. Enormous savings can be made here and I am confident that we are getting our act together in this regard now that the mandate is in place.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will take up the offer of a meeting about the Garda cars. I have heard conflicting reports at the various meetings I have attended from the Garda and the Office of Public Works. One passes the buck to the other. The biggest issue in the past was when there was no volume discount as part of the arrangement. That is fine if one is buying 50 cars but if one is buying 70 or 80, there should be a lower unit cost. That was not the case in the past.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I will organise the meeting for the Deputy.