Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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229. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if there are any technical, legal, operational, or policy constraints preventing his Department, when publishing quarterly reports of payments or purchase orders over €20,000, from including additional columns that link each payment to its underlying procurement process specifically tender/contract title; name and address of the awarded contractor/supplier; contract award date; contract duration; expected contract value (excl. VAT); maximum contract value (excl. VAT); the unique identifier from the relevant contract award notice; and where such constraints exist, to provide details explaining his Department’s current process for reconciling each reported payment with the corresponding published contract award notice on eTenders. [55055/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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230. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if all contracting authorities under the aegis of his Department are in full compliance with Circular 05/2023, in particular the mandatory requirement to publish contract award notices for all contracts above €25,000; and if he will provide details of the monitoring or enforcement arrangements in place to ensure this requirement is met. [55072/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 229 and 230 together.

The Department of Defence follows the principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts in accordance with national & EU regulations, including specific EU regulations for procurement of defensive equipment, and in line with Office of Government Procurement guidelines where relevant.

Departmental procurement procedures are kept under constant review to ensure Office of Government Procurement advice including Circular 05/2023 is followed and to ensure best value for money procurements are achieved. My Department has recently introduced a new Procurement Tracking System which will enhance tracking, management and reporting on procurements including on the publication of Contract Award Notices.

Robust governance procedures are in place to ensure oversight and approval of expenditure and to ensure that expenditure is profiled and monitored on an ongoing basis. Specifically, a High Level Planning and Procurement Group (HLPPG), comprising of senior civil and military management of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, and an associated Working Group, meet on a monthly basis to evaluate all relevant procurement matters. Purchasing procedures are kept under constant review to support good procurement practice, project management and good corporate governance.

My Department routinely publishes details of Purchase Orders for goods and services valued at more than €20,000, on foot of a previous Programme for Government commitment and has no plans to change this approach.