Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his plans for an e-procurement initiative at local government level in view of the combined purchase power of the local government system and the potential savings that could be made. [15040/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In September 2003, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government endorsed the local government e-procurement strategy, which was produced by IBM Consultants in collaboration with the Local Government Computer Services Board, a number of local authorities and the Department. The strategy provides for the application of electronic processes to procurement activities and the prior modernisation, which is necessary in this context, of existing procurement processes and practices. All local authorities have been urged by the Department to commit to the implementation of the strategy. A number of pilot e-procurement projects have been undertaken by various local authorities and agencies in pursuance of the strategy. By the end of 2004, some €825,000 of matching funding had been granted by the Department to organisations in respect of such projects. A further €244,000 of funding has been made available for 2005.

A team compiled by the national public procurement policy unit, which is based in the Department of Finance and includes officers of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Local Government Computer Services Board, has conducted a further study of procurement in the local government sector. It has made a number of recommendations for further actions in accordance with the objectives of the local government e-procurement strategy. Its report will be presented to the County and City Managers Association soon.

It is difficult to quantify the exact level of savings that could result from the widespread adoption of e-procurement. The results of the pilot projects indicate that significant savings are achievable by the end of the timeframe envisaged in the strategy. The savings would arise not only from aggregate purchasing within and between local authorities, which would be facilitated by e-procurement, but also from such factors as the better use of staff resources, improvement in service delivery and reductions in transaction and logistical costs.