Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
289. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding evaluating and managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of procurement strategies within the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11759/22]
View answerThe Government has set out a number of commitments in the Programme for Government in relation to public procurement including evaluating and managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of procurement strategies within the State, developing and implementing a sustainable procurement policy and tasking the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) to update all procurement frameworks in line with green procurement practice.
Strategic spending can play a key role in responding to societal, environmental and economic challenges. The OGP established the Strategic Procurement Advisory Group, bringing together officials from policy Departments with procurement practitioners to share best practice in relevant fields and to facilitate the process of incorporating social and environmental considerations into public procurement.
Circular 20/2019 requires public bodies to incorporate relevant green procurement measures into their planning and reporting cycles. Defined, quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable criteria for a number of products and services have been developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2021, for the first time, government departments reported to the EPA on the proportion of their procurement spend in 2020 that was green. The EPA is analysing this information and will report later this year.
The appropriateness of including environmental, economic and social considerations is a decision for each contracting authority and should be examined on a contract-by-contract basis. Each contract should be effectively managed and monitored by the individual contracting authority. The National Public Procurement Guidelines provide public bodies with steps to follow when managing contracts. In addition, the OGP has been promoting the use of strategic procurement to be applied in line with each organisation’s own strategic goals and wider government objectives. Through its Information Note on the subject, the OGP has advocated for the completion of a corporate procurement plan (CPP). CPPs can assist contracting authorities to align their procurement functions with wider environmental, economic and social considerations. The OGP recommends that public bodies consider the incorporation of wider strategic considerations from the outset and have flagged the planning phase as the most critical stage.
The OGP and its partner central purchasing bodies (CPBs) have been reviewing all central purchasing arrangements to identify opportunities to include green considerations. 165 central arrangements had been updated to include specific green criteria by the end of 2021. A further 41 arrangements will be updated to include green criteria this year and next.
Finally, my officials present at a range of public sector events and seminars to promote green and social public procurement and will continue to promote utilising the State’s purchasing power to deliver on our commitments to sustainable development and social inclusion. Environmental, economic and social procurement considerations are also discussed with business representative bodies at the SME Advisory Group meeting which is chaired by my colleague, Minister of State Ossian Smyth. Following consultation with SME representatives, the OGP developed a suite of policy measures aimed at assisting SMEs to access public procurement opportunities (implemented through Circular 10/2014).
Together with Minister Smyth and the OGP, I will continue to monitor and enhance the significant measures and strategies in place to support the inclusion of environmental, economic and social considerations in public procurement opportunities.
