Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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895. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to detail the total expenditure on public procurement by his Department and its agencies, including spending on goods, services and works acquired through public procurement processes, in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [13555/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the Office of Government Procurement’s guidance (Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services), and the procurement thresholds within that guidance, my Department maintains a register of all contracts with a value of over €25,000 (exclusive of VAT) entered into each year. The table below provides the information requested by the Deputy, based on that register, and inclusive of the VAT charged on those contracts.

The Deputy should note that my Department has responsibility for procuring cargo and passenger ferry services to offshore islands and the maintenance and upkeep of the airports on same, hence the high value of services procured over the period. Approximately 84 per cent of the expenditure above is related to transport services and works for the islands as a core responsibility of the Department. Comprehensive details of these services, and others, have been provided in an earlier PQ (7512/25) covering the same period.

My Department publishes detailed financial information on a regular basis, including details of consultancy payments and information on all payments over €20,000 made in a given year. This information is available on the Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/294dc7-financial-information/

With regard to the agencies under my Department’s remit, there are four; the Western Development Commission, Pobal, Irish Water Safety, and the Charities Regulator. They are all independent legal entities governed by independent boards and executives and therefore are independent in their own financial, operational and governance matters, including managing their own procurement arrangements.