Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans in relation to the implementation of social and green clauses in public procurement. [20403/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In 2019, my Department published Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement. The Circular instructs Departments to consider including green criteria in public procurement processes where:

Clearly defined, quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable criteria have been developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and are relevant to the specific procurement process, and

The cost can be met within a Department’s existing budget, without impacting on service delivery

Defined, quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable criteria for a number of products and services have been developed by the Environmental Protection Agency under the auspices of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and are available in 'Green Procurement - Guidance for the Public Sector', which can be downloaded from gov.ie. These criteria are being updated and new criteria, for a broader range of areas, is expected to be published in Q2 2021.

Circular 20/2019 also requires public bodies to incorporate relevant green procurement measures into their planning and reporting cycles. The Environmental Protection Agency was requested by DECC to produce a Reporting and Monitoring template for Green Public Procurement with reports for 2020 due for return by March 2021. I understand the EPA is currently assessing the the reports for 2020.

The Circular additionally draws the attention of Departments to the cross-departmental Social Considerations Advisory Group, which aims to promote and facilitate the incorporation of social considerations, including environmental considerations, into public procurement projects. This group was established by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), and brings together officials from policy departments with public procurement practitioners to share best practice in relevant fields. To update objectives of the group in line with Programme for Government commitments, new Terms of Reference were developed in September 2020, and the group has been renamed as the Strategic Procurement Advisory Group (SPAG). This year, the OGP and DECC jointly established an environmental subgroup of the SPAG. This subgroup facilitates more detailed, technical, discussion of approaches to incorporate environmental considerations into procurement.

Thus, much work is underway to aid the implementation of social and green clauses in public procurement, and I plan to work closely with my colleague, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to ensure continued development of guidance, reporting, and engagement to further assist in utilising our public purchasing power to deliver our commitments to sustainable development and social inclusion.