David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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441. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of State contracts awarded under public procurement in costs bands (details supplied), in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20755/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Public procurement is an integral part of the Government's overall Public Service Reform agenda. The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) was established by Government to lead on the Public Procurement Reform Programme by bringing improved capability to procurement, delivery of substantial savings on goods and services expenditure, and the provision of better data to Government on procurement across the public service. 

The OGP established a dedicated Business Intelligence team in late 2013 and has gathered considerable expenditure data from large public service bodies. The Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis 2013 Report published last year was an important first step in improving accurate analysis of, and transparency in, public procurement expenditure. The key findings of the 2013 Report were that some 93% of public procurement expenditure remains within the State and that the majority of procurement expenditure is directly with SMEs. The OGP intends to produce this Analysis Report annually, and data volumes, data quality and depth of analysis will improve each time.

However, the specific information sought by the Deputy is not readily available as contracts, including those awarded under Framework Agreements put in place by the OGP, are awarded directly by individual public sector bodies and not centrally by the OGP.