Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the sustainability measures that he applies to guide public procurement. [31242/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Green Public Procurement Policy is the responsibility of the Minister for Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport. In this context, my colleague, Ossian Smyth T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement Policy, is actively engaged in promoting sustainable public procurement and ensuring that relevant guidance is available to guide public procurement practitioners through the Office of Government Procurement (OGP).

Following the publication of the Climate Action Plan 2019, my Department published Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurementin October 2019. This instructs Departments to consider using green criteria in their procurements, and also requires public bodies to incorporate relevant green procurement measures into their planning and reporting cycles as an appendix within their Annual Report. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collects reports from Departments annually on progress in relation to Green Public Procurement which will assist in understanding where further guidance is needed or where promotion should focus. The first report was published in April 2022 and indicated that Government departments reported a total spend of €53.765 million on contracts over €25,000, signed in 2020, that included green criteria.

The Strategic Procurement Advisory Group (SPAG), chaired by the OGP, aims to promote and facilitate the incorporation of strategic considerations into public procurement projects. In 2021, the establishment of an Environmental subgroup of the SPAG, co-chaired by the OGP and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication’s Circular Economy Unit, has facilitated the implementation of Green Public Procurement (GPP) measures in Ireland. It has assisted coordination and awareness in the lead up to the publication in 2021 by the EPA of Green Public Procurement – Guidance for the Public Sector, accompanied by 10 sets of green criteria. The subgroup has also facilitated the EPA in the coordination of the rollout of training in Green Public Procurement across public bodies. In addition, it makes public bodies aware of the green frameworks developed by the OGP and other central purchasing measures.

As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government includes a number of commitments in relation to public procurement, including evaluating and managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of procurement strategies within the State. The OGP and its partner Central Purchasing Bodies (CPBs) have been reviewing all central purchasing arrangements to identify opportunities to include green considerations. Of the 260 central arrangements that are available from the five CPBs, 165 had been updated to include specific green criteria by the end of 2021.