Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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78. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide any framework or policy he is pursuing with the aim of reducing the cost of goods and services in Ireland, in particular, in public procurement processes and any advice he has received on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17861/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government includes a commitment to reviewing the public procurement process to make it more transparent and work to ensure greater participation from SMEs. Working towards this aim, and to set out the strategic direction of public procurement for the next five years, my Department is developing a first National Public Procurement Strategy. On 25 March, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), which operates as part of my Department, launched a public consultation to inform the strategy.

The ambition of the strategy will be to improve the lives of the people of Ireland through the delivery of strategic, innovative, sustainable and transparent public procurement that supports competition and value for money. Significant groundwork has already been undertaken. In June 2024, my Department published a policy statement: developing a new public procurement strategy for Ireland. In September 2024, in partnership with the European Commission, my Department ran a national ‘strategic dialogue’ workshop on the use of green, socially responsible and innovation public procurement. The output of this dialogue was the publication of a roadmap towards a National Public Procurement Strategy.

The Government is committed to ensuring that projects are delivered in a timely manner and that value for money is always paramount. Therefore, value for money will constitute a key theme permeating the strategy. Individual Accounting Officers are responsible for ensuring that their public procurement functions are discharged in line with the standard accounting and procurement rules and procedures and that contract prices are fair and reasonable and represent best value for money. As part of the consultation phase, the OGP is seeking the views of stakeholders on ways to implement more efficient and effective public procurement that will support Accounting Officers in this regard.

Circular 16/2013 – Revision of Arrangements Concerning the Use of Central Contracts, informs public bodies of the importance of maximising the value for money achievable when procuring commonly acquired goods or services. The central procurement arrangements established by the Office of Government Procurement are designed to optimise benefits to the public service through the strategic aggregation of its buying power and securing best value for money. The benefits arising from these central procurement arrangements can include cash savings. This policy circular also requires public bodies who do not utilise central procurement arrangements to be in a position to provide a value for money justification.