Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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335. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which Ireland has implemented the requirements of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 on High-Value Datasets; the Department, unit, or official responsible for coordinating national compliance; and if the June 2024 availability deadline and the February 2025 reporting obligations under Articles 5 and 6 have been fully met. [56753/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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336. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which progress on high-value datasets will be monitored and reported to the European Commission from 2025 onwards; to list the datasets included in Ireland’s initial submission; and the criteria being used to assess completeness, technical quality, and accessibility of the data published. [56754/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the technical and operational standards adopted nationally to ensure high-value datasets (HVD) are published in full compliance with Article 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138, including requirements for open licensing (CC0 or CC BY 4.0), machine-readable formats, API access, bulk download, and comprehensive metadata; and if all designated HVDs are now listed and accessible on data.gov.ie. [56755/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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338. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the coordination arrangements in place across Departments, local authorities and State agencies to ensure consistent implementation of the High-Value Datasets Regulation; and if technical or training supports have been provided through the Technical Services Framework for Open Data and Data Management. [56756/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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339. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will consider designating public procurement and contracting data as a high-value dataset-equivalent category for domestic purposes; and if he will introduce a circular or statutory instrument requiring that procurement data, including tenders, contract awards, supplier identifiers, contract values, and links to eTenders notices, be published in open, machine-readable formats (e.g. OCDS-compliant CSV or JSON) with stable identifiers and public APIs. [56757/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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340. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will consider using Ireland’s forthcoming 2026 EU Council Presidency to advance the inclusion of Public Procurement and Contracting Data within the European Commission’s list of high-value datasets; and to outline any preparatory work under way to position Ireland as a leading example of open, structured procurement transparency. [56758/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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341. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the National Open Data Strategy 2023–2027 and forthcoming Public Service Digital Strategy explicitly incorporate high-value dataset obligations; and the way in which these frameworks will ensure alignment with the Open Data and Public Sector Information Directive (EU) 2019/1024, particularly in relation to the accessibility and reuse of financial and procurement information. [56759/25]

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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342. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to set out Ireland’s recent achievements in open data and high-value datasets, including highlights from the latest EU Open Data Maturity assessment, notable flagship datasets/APIs released on data.gov.ie, examples of measurable reuse and public value (e.g. research, SME innovation or service improvement), progress on implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138, and key milestones planned for 2025–2027, including any initiatives Ireland intends to champion at EU level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56760/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341 and 342 together.

Ireland continues to demonstrate leadership in Open Data, as reflected in the latest EU Open Data Maturity Assessment where Ireland was placed in the top 5 performers in 2024, out of 34 countries. Ireland is in the EU’s ‘trendsetter’ category for open data policy, portal functionality, data quality, and impact. This category designation was made on the basis that Ireland has an advanced open data policy in place, with substantial coordination of open data activities at all levels of government. The national portal provides a wide range of features and caters to the needs of advanced users and publishers.

The Open Data Strategy 2023 – 2027 lays out the national vision and direction for Public Service Bodies (PSBs) – for publishers and users, and the further development of the national open data portal. The implementation of the strategy supports the achievement of Ireland’s obligations under the Open Data and Public Sector Information Directive, including the publication and reuse of specific High-Value Datasets. The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation provides central supports for PSBs to enable them to achieve their objectives and obligations with regard to Open Data, including:

• Data.gov.ie, the national Open Data Portal.
• Open Data Technical Guidelines and access to the Open Data Technical Services procurement framework.
• Training supports through the Provision of National Training Services for the Irish Government Open Data Initiative procurement framework.
• A community of practice and regular communications, including networks of Open Data Liaison Officers and the Open Data Advisory Group which provide a cross-sectoral forum for guidance, collaboration, and monitoring of open data objectives.

• The publication of 21,344 datasets by 140 public service bodies on data.gov.ie.
• Recent improvements to the data.gov.ie portal including the development of dashboard functionality in the Open Data Portal for visualising public sector data.
• SMEs and researchers leveraging datasets for AI model training, urban mobility analysis, and public service optimisation.
• Local authorities using open data to improve planning transparency and citizen engagement.
• Further information is available on the portal data.gov.ie.

• Irish Public Services Bodies are now working towards compliance with the Directive and Implementing Act.
• Early successes include the Companies Registration Office (CRO), which launched an innovative Open Data Portal, sharing national company registration data and company financial statements in compliance with the Open Data Directive and exemplifying best practice in open licensing, machine-readable formats, and API access to support bulk downloads and metadata alignment.
• The Department of Culture Communications and Sport is bringing Eircodes into alignment with Open Data requirements which will deliver benefits across the public sector and SME’s, and enable the public to make better-informed decisions and to contribute to policy making
• The CSO publishes statistical HVDs in machine-readable formats with open licenses.