Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Finance the details of the new public procurement unit to be established in the Office of Public Works; the annual savings this unit is expected to make for the Exchequer; if this unit will be responsible for, or will oversee all procurement by Government Departments and agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45373/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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It is proposed that the new public procurement unit to be based in the Office of Public Works will (i) oversee procurement on the part of central Government Departments and Offices, agencies and non-commercial State bodies so that they can acquire a range of goods and services more effectively, efficiently and with better value for money; (ii) provide professional procurement advice across the entire public service; (iii) develop targeted and accredited procurement training and education measures for the public service and (iv) further develop web-based e-tenders, including the use of eAuctions for certain goods and services where this would deliver better value for money.

It is intended that better public procurement practices will make a significant contribution to reducing Exchequer expenditure on goods and services and in this regard the Government will set targets on an annual basis for substantial savings on procurement resulting from the Unit's activities.