Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Departmental Contracts
Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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96. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether his Department or any agency operating under its aegis has, in the past five years, used reserved contracts or included social clauses in public procurement tenders; and if so, to detail the types of contracts or clauses used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42849/25]
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for two Votes - Vote 27 (International Cooperation) and Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade). There are no agencies operating under the Department's aegis.
The policy of the Department is to operate competitive tendering as standard procedure in order to achieve best value for money. Procurement takes place in the context of EU Directive 2014/24 and supported by the Procurement Guidelines published by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) 2023, which set out a range of procedures governing the procurement process from tendering through to the award of contracts.
In line with the revised Circular 05/2023, the Department applies the use of a public tender for any procurement with a value over €50,000 excluding VAT. This threshold was increased from €25,000 during 2023 to facilitate SME participation.
The Department also participates fully in on-going initiatives of the OGP focusing especially at achieving procurement savings, including the use of central arrangements for the provision of different categories of supplies and services.
The Department recognises the benefits of promoting the use of social considerations in Public Procurement as set out in Circular 20/2019 and the inclusion of Socially Responsible Public Procurement (SRPP) as set out in Circular 17/2025
EU and national rules promote open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement procedures which deliver value for money. Some social considerations are already included in the public procurement process to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. These include areas such as health and safety, equality and employment law and suppliers participating in the Departments tender competitions are required to declare their compliance with such statutory requirements.
Due to the category of goods and services used by the Department, the Department has not undertaken a reserved contract tender process or included additional social clauses in contract tenders in the last five years. Procurement procedures are kept under constant review to ensure that they are line with best practice, guidance and the legal framework.
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