Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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329. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department or the Office of Government Procurement collects or maintains data on public procurement competitions that collapse without a contract award, either due to lack of submissions, failure to meet requirements, or legal challenges; and if so, the number and proportion of collapsed or abandoned competitions over the past five years, broken down by year and by contracting authority type (for example, Government Department, local authority, State agency). [33629/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The data available to my department, in particular to the Office of Government Procurement through the eTenders platform data, provides information in relation to the number of submissions received for competitions published on eTenders. Data is also available on the number of competitions that have published a contract award notice on the platform. My department does not however have access to data that provides information in relation to the reasons why competitions have not progressed to a contract award stage. As such, my department is not in a position to provide the data requested in relation to collapsed or abandoned competitions.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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330. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if eTenders includes functionality to systematically track procurement competitions that were advertised but for which no award notice was ever published; and if not, whether this data gap is being addressed given the importance of understanding failure rates in public procurement and improving efficiency and bidder confidence. [33631/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The 2016 Regulations made mandatory the use of electronic procurement (eprocurement) in all procurement procedures. eTenders as the national eprocurement platform allows contracting authorities meet their obligations in this regard. In terms of notices, the Regulations mandated the items below:

• Mandatory enotification and electronic access to tender documents.
• Mandatory submission of tenders and requests.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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331. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has estimated the administrative or financial cost of collapsed or re-run procurement competitions; and if any analysis has been undertaken on the reasons for such failures and how they could be prevented through improved planning, market engagement, or procedural reform. [33632/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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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 are accountable for expenditure incurred. Individual Contracting Authorities are responsible for establishing arrangements for ensuring the proper conduct of their affairs, including conformance to standards of good governance and accountability with regard to public procurement. Any responsibility for analysis of the reasons behind collapsed or re-run procurement competitions, including any estimation of the administrative or financial cost rests with the individual Contracting Authorities.

To assist Contracting Authorities in the conduct of procurement procedures, my department has published extensive guidance material for Contracting Authorities, including the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services and the Capital Works Management Framework. These guidance materials outline the various stages of the procurement process from specification, through to selection and award stages. They provide comprehensive guidance on ensuring the specifications fully and accurately capture the requirements; and identify the risks of poor specification and the challenges that this can cause Contracting Authorities.

My department also publishes information notes to assist Contracting Authorities and public buyers in promoting better procurement practice in their organisations. Examples of these include notes on Corporate Procurement Plans, the role of the Procurement Officer and guidance on preliminary market consultations. These notes are hosted on the Office of Government Procurement website.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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332. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has a designated head of procurement; if each agency or public body under his Department’s remit also has a designated head of procurement; and if so, to list those entities, along with the name or grade of the person holding that role. [33646/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, ultimate responsibility for public procurement within the Department, like all matters of financial management, falls to the Secretary General as Accounting Officer. However, the Deputy may also be aware that, under Circular 40/02, all Departments are required to appoint a Procurement Officer. In that context, the Procurement Officer in my Department is Gillian Keane, who is a Grade 1 Accountant.

The position with regard to the bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out in the tables below.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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333. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of staff within his Department and its agencies who hold a formal procurement qualification or certification (for example, CIPS, NFQ Level 6 or higher in procurement, EU public procurement training), broken down by organisation, in tabular form. [33664/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not maintain a compulsory central register of the qualifications of staff, so it is not possible to provide all of the detailed information requested. However, in the following reply, I have sought to provide the Deputy with as much information as possible, including some wider background context.

It is important to note that there is no one recognised EU Public Procurement Qualification. There are a large number of procurement qualifications and courses available and there is no one particular course which is endorsed, favoured or preferred by the Department. My Department supports staff to undertake these qualifications through its overall programme of Learning and Development. In that context, since 2018, staff have undertaken a number of procurement specific courses, supported by the Department:

*King’s Inns Advanced Diploma in Public Procurement Law is a professional development course (CPD) and it is accredited independently by The Honourable Society of King’s Inns.

Some of these staff may have left the Department since taking a course. In addition, some staff may already have taken these or other relevant courses before joining the Department. The Department's recruitment campaigns refer to such qualifications as desirable rather than mandatory.

Beyond these particular courses, some staff have taken shorter Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses in the basics of procurement. In addition, many staff would have qualifications (Degrees, Masters) in areas which may include procurement as part of the curriculum. These qualifications would include: business management, economics, finance, accountancy, etc. Four staff currently in the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), a division of the Department, have completed the Public Procurement Excellence course accredited by WU Executive Academy (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Regarding the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), I wish to advise the Deputy that the OGP received its Corporate Ethical Kite Mark in 2025.

More generally, my Department is investigating the suitability and feasibility of creating a public procurement technical skills framework, and the potential application of any such framework with a view to further strengthening commercial and procurement capabilities. Identifying and developing technical procurement competencies and commercial skills will leverage the supports available from relevant learning institutions and industry bodies. There are a range of procurement courses offered by various educational institutions and private sector training bodies and it is a matter for each Department and agency to address their specific training through their own learning and development policies and practices.

Finally, the information requested by the Deputy with regard to the bodies under the aegis of the Department is set out in the table below.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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334. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department and each agency or public body under its remit uses a formal contract management system or procurement tracking platform; to list the systems in use; and if they are centrally monitored or independently operated. [33682/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy for my Department and the bodies under its aegis is set out in the table below.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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335. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there are any formal competency frameworks or mandatory qualification requirements in place for public servants working in procurement roles across Government Departments and agencies; and to provide data on compliance or progress toward professionalising the procurement function across the public service. [33688/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has not identified mandatory qualification requirements for public servants working in procurement roles across Government Departments and agencies.

The Civil Service Competency Framework supports development of the relevant skills needed by civil and public servants, and further supports capability building for individuals across all roles responsible for delivering on behalf of our Government and the people of Ireland.

My Department supports procurement functions and practice for public servants working in procurement roles across Government Departments and agencies through a range of activities designed to support compliance and strengthen procurement skills and capabilities, such as:

• My Department published an Information note in January 2019 addressing the Procurement Officer Role. The purpose of this information note is to outline the role of a Procurement Officer in organisations that carry out public procurement and identifies the policy and governance context for Procurement Officers, with regard to the National Public Procurement Policy Framework.
• A number of initiatives undertaken at a national level by the OGP to enable better public procurement practice include continuous ongoing enhancements to the suite of guidance for public buyers and suppliers, template tender and contract documents, the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services update Version 3, the development of a digital Green Public Procurement Criteria Search tool, the publication of circular 05/2023 to support SME participation and the launch of the new national eTenders platform.
• The OGP promotes ongoing and active engagement with the wider public sector through a range of stakeholder events aimed at fostering awareness and promoting compliance with the public procurement regime in addition to a programme of client-facing events. This programme consists of:
  • Information Sessions on central arrangements
  • Procurement Officer Networks forums
  • Bi-annual Client Conference
• My Department has published a wide range of training, guidance and reference information and resources which is made available online, to help public procurement staff use the eTenders platform and comply with the procedures and policies that govern public procurement in Ireland. This ranges from detailed guidance documents to short task-specific video tutorials to facilitate self-paced learning. My Department also provides direct support to civil and public bodies in relation to public procurement matters through the OGP Support service and the various in-person and online events that are either hosted or supported by the OGP.
• In support of the delivery of the Capital Works Management Framework, the National Development Plan and Project Ireland 2024, the Commercial Skills Academy offer practical training to both developing and experienced practitioners. The training offerings include modular eLearning courses, information sessions, communities of practice networks and classroom training, providing procurement practitioners with an understanding of key issues, commercial skills, and best practice approaches for effective project delivery throughout the entire lifecycle of a public works project.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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336. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there are any requirements or standards for Departments and agencies to use contract management systems to manage public procurement projects post-award. [33689/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Each Accounting Officer is responsible for the monitoring of performance of public contracts under his or her remit and for ensuring that the public procurement function is efficiently and effectively discharged in line with standard accounting and procurement rules and procedures to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer.

My department has responsibility for public procurement policy and sets the overarching policy framework for public procurement in Ireland. This enables a more consistent approach to public procurement across the public sector. My department has published the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the public procurement regulations. The guidelines are designed to improve consistency and promote best practice in the application of the public procurement rules to deliver best value for money. These guidelines specifically address the importance of active management by contracting authorities of contracts to maximise value for money and describes actions that should be taken in managing contracts.

My department is also responsible for management of the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). The CWMF is an integrated set of contractual provisions, guidance material and technical procedures which covers all aspects of the delivery process of a public works project from inception to final project delivery and review. The structure of this strategic framework is closely aligned with and complements the Infrastructure Guidelines developed by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.

The comprehensive and detailed guidance notes are intended for the guidance of Sponsoring Agencies embarking on capital works projects. The roles of the Sanctioning Authorities and any external consultants appointed in relation to capital works projects are also considered.

Furthermore, the Commercial Skills Academy provide a range of training solutions on aspects of the CWMF to public servants.

The CWMF is for use by contracting authorities involved in the expenditure of public funds on construction projects and related consultancy services. The use of the framework should result in a more cost-effective delivery of public works projects because of its systematic and detailed approach to, among other things, planning (both preparatory and detailed), capital budgeting as well as design and construction cost control.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department plans to publish the next edition of the Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis Report, covering 2020 or subsequent years; if not, the reasons for the delay or discontinuation of this reporting series,given that the most recent report, covering 2019 was published in 2022 and brought important transparency to public procurement activity, including findings on the proportion of State spending retained within the country (details supplied); the timeline for when the next report will be made publicly available; and the technical, methodological, or resourcing issues that may be preventing its publication. [33690/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2013 my department, through the OGP has liaised with a sample of public service bodies to gather data on procurement addressable expenditure from across the public service to support the provision of public procurement sourcing services and inform policy development in this area. This data was also used, on an aggregated basis, as the basis for the ‘Spend Data’ component of an annual ‘Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis’ report. The other component of the report being ‘Tendering Analysis’, used data captured via the national electronic tendering platform, eTenders. The OGP has published seven such Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis Reports for 2013 – 2019.

Following the introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation and associated amendments to national data protection legislation in 2018, and due to the potential for procurement addressable expenditure data to contain personal data, following the completion of the 2019 data report, the OGP ceased the collection of said data from public bodies. This decision was taken on foot of legal advices at that time. Subsequent to this, the OGP were engaged with public sector bodies on a number of other significant events that required their cooperation and resources, in particular the design, implementation and transition to a new national electronic tendering platform.

While my department recognises the importance and benefit of having visibility of procurement addressable spend from across the public service, the OGP has no legal basis or ability to access that data. However, we are exploring options to address the data protection constraints that have arisen, the OGP also sees this as an opportunity to consider reviewing the overall approach and mechanism used to collect and process this type of data.

The process for the collection of procurement addressable expenditure data from a sample of public service bodies was carried out on a voluntary basis by those public bodies and involved the extraction of finance data from a multitude of different financial systems from across the public service. It required the public bodies involved to have inhouse ICT systems and data processing capabilities, the data was generated from a wide range of financial systems, in various formats and quality, and in some cases the process involved significant lead times to facilitate the completion of end-of-year financial accounting procedures before the information could be shared with the OGP. This raised a number of challenges in terms of processing the data and also resulted in a lag between the reporting period of the data and the publication timeline.

Given the new data protection considerations that have arisen, and the general challenges experienced in collecting and making the procurement addressable expenditure data available, the OGP are exploring new approaches to re-activating public procurement reporting that provides an overview of public procurement activity, with a greater focus initially on tendering data which is more readily available and within their control for processing. While a timeline is not currently available on this initiative, the OGP would be happy to advise as soon as a timeline becomes available. This initiative would build on the data the OGP already makes available publicly available such as online access to all tenders published via the eTenders platform and access to contracts awarded via the Government OpenData portal.