Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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145. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he can provide the full year cost of funding five additional procurement specialists to establish a new Public Procurement Ombudsman in 2026 within the general Office of the Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27964/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Ombudsman's role is to examine complaints from members of the public who believe that they have been unfairly treated by certain public service providers such as government departments, local authorities, the HSE, public hospitals, public funded third level education bodies and public and private nursing homes. The Office does not have a specific role in respect of public procurement. It is not within the remit of the Ombudsman to deal with complaints regarding the outcome of public procurement competitions. National Remedies Regulations provide a recourse option to tenderers at High Court level to challenge procurement processes, which they may consider were not compliant with public procurement rules. There are no plans to establish a Public Procurement Ombudsman. The costs of such a body, were it ever to be established, would depend on the numbers of staff and their grading. Public procurement of course is subject, like all Exchequer expenditure, to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.