Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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490. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality 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 her 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 her Department will now consider putting in place such monitoring systems, in light of the administrative cost and service delays associated with failed procurement procedures. [40385/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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While the wide range of data sought by the Deputy is not specifically tracked by my Department, I can report that since the eTenders platform was redeveloped in May 2023, three public procurement competitions advertised by my Department on the platform were subsequently cancelled. The reason for the cancellation of these competitive processes was due to a lack of supplier engagement, with no tender submissions received across the three competitions.

I would consider that my Department has good procedures in place with regard to the oversight and conduct of procurement competitions, with a centralised procurement unit providing advice and support to divisions in the operation of procurement relating to their functions. This continues to assist in the minimisation of administration, time, resources and other costs associated with procurement.

However, we are continually seeking to improve in this regard and are planning a new round of procurement training and development for staff in association with the drafting of the Department's corporate procurement plan across Q3/Q4 of 2025. In addition, work is also being planned to transition the Department to a software platform that will include contract management, which will provide additional tracking and analysis capabilities in terms of procurement.