Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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395. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 329 and 331 of 24 June 2025, to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, which confirmed that responsibility for analysing collapsed or re-run procurement competitions rests with individual contracting authorities, if his Department has estimated or recorded the number of procurement competitions since 2019 that did not result in a contract award due to insufficient submissions, legal challenges, disqualification of bidders, or internal cancellation, recorded or estimated the administrative or financial cost associated with collapsed or re-run procurement competitions during the same period and undertaken any analysis on the underlying reasons for failed competitions and the extent to which outcomes might be improved through better planning, clearer specifications, earlier market engagement, or other procurement reforms; and if not, if his Department will now consider putting in place such monitoring systems, in light of the administrative cost and service delays associated with failed procurement procedures. [40399/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Procurement is closely monitored across my Department and contracts are only tendered following a rigorous assessment of need.  The majority of contracts are tendered under central arrangements via the Office of Government Procurement.

Since 2019 there has been approximately 300 contracts awarded over €25k which have been openly tendered and 18 tenders have been recorded as cancelled for various reasons as set out in the Deputy’s questions. The number recorded has reduced in recent years and is closely monitored.

I am satisfied that there is a robust procurement process in place in my Department and that there are no major costs associated with these cancellations at this time.  The matter will continue to be kept under constant scrutiny.