Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 May 2021
52. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the survey results of the Office of Government Procurement client satisfaction survey from 2018 and 2020 will be provided. [23436/21]
View answerThe Office of Government Procurement (OGP) provides a broad range of procurement services to public bodies and to bidders for public contracts. These include procurement websites, policy information, and relevant Departmental Circulars, guidance documents, information notes, template documentation, helpdesk services, framework agreements and procurement support services. There are an estimated 8,000 public bodies who can make use of OGP services, across central and local government, and in the health and education sectors. Some of these bodies have have significant procurement expertise themselves, whereas others have limited procurement knowledge and experience. This breadth requires the OGP to have delivery strategies that target supports accordingly. Therefore, as part of its commitment to continuous improvement and providing an excellent customer experience, the OGP regularly engages with its client base to gauge their awareness of and satisfaction with its service provision, and to identify areas for improvement. In addition to the day-to-day feedback during and after client engagements, the OGP also undertakes formal independent client satisfaction surveys.
The two surveys conducted in 2018 and in late 2020 were facilitated by a expert research firm. Clients in central government, government agencies, local authorities and higher education institutions were surveyed. The 2020 survey achieved 386 respondents and its results indicate high levels of client satisfaction. Importantly gains were made across the majority of areas measured since 2018. Most notably, the OGP staff scored highly throughout, in terms of professionalism, responsiveness, expertise, communication and understanding of client needs.
A number of key areas for further development were also identified, including the OGP website, procurement timelines, complexity, communicating the benefits of using OGP arrangements and ensuring future frameworks are targeted to meet needs and widely communicated to potential users.
A detailed summary of the results from both the 2018 and 2020 Client Satisfaction Survey are available on the OGP website via the following link - https://ogp.gov.ie/what-we-do/.
