Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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208. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence 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. [13551/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Defence Vote Group is comprised of Vote 35 (Army Pensions) and Vote 36 (Defence). The Army Pensions Vote, which is mainly demand-led and non-discretionary, provides pension benefits to 13,600 Army Pensioners and their dependants. The Defence Vote allocation provides, inter alia, for the pay and allowances of 8,960 public service employees (including 8,000 members of the Permanent Defence Force), ongoing Defence Forces standing and operational costs and essential capital investment on Defence Forces equipment and infrastructure requirements.

The Department ensures that there is an appropriate focus on good procurement practice in the award of all contracts and that procedures are in place to ensure compliance with all relevant public procurement guidelines. Procurement procedures are kept under constant review to ensure that they are in line with best practice, guidance and the legal framework. In addition, all procurement practices are subject to regular scrutiny and audit by both the Department's Internal Audit Section and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Excluding expenditure on pay and allowances, pensions, litigation, grants, etc, the total remaining expenditure in the Defence Vote Group represents the approximate expenditure on goods, services and works acquired through public procurement processes. The table below sets out that figure over the period in question.