Substantial progress has been made by my Department in implementing the recommendations regarding procurement contained in the Quigley Report. Procurement guidelines and practices in the Department have been reviewed and a set of consolidated guidelines was circulated to all staff. In addition, revised procedures have been put in place to strengthen monitoring and control of procurement and briefing sessions have been held for staff engaged in procurement. Reference material on procurement has been published on the Departments Intranet and is readily available to all staff.
Additional resources have also been allocated to the Departments Organisation Unit, which coordinates advice and monitoring in relation to the Department's procurement activities, and to the Department's Internal Audit Unit which is responsible, inter alia, for assisting line management in the Department in evaluating internal control systems for which they are responsible. I am confident that these arrangements will enable my Department to achieve the improvement and consolidation of its procurement arrangements recommended by the Quigley Report