Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2013
316. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of procurement officers appointed by local authorities to date; the location of same; if any local authority has not yet appointed a procurement officer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28836/13]
View answerMy Department gathers quarterly data on staff numbers in local authorities. The data gathered do not provide detail in respect of individual grades or job titles within each local authority, and accordingly, the information requested is not available in my Department.
Procurement savings have been targeted by the Government under the Public Service Reform Plan and the Local Government Efficiency Review. Since 2010 local authorities have reported savings of €109 million from procurement reform and centrally managed sectoral procurement has increased from 19% to 23%. In order to continue to drive procurement savings in the sector and to interact effectively with the new Office of Government Procurement local authorities are building on the sectoral procurement structures established in the local government Procurement Office within Kerry County Council. I understand that as part of the procurement structures in the sector each local authority has identified a local procurement officer and four regional procurement officers have been put in place.
