Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
47. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress that has been made on the Programme for Government commitment to introduce local food procurement policies for the public sector to encourage the availability of nutritious, locally sourced food in public sector areas such as schools, hospitals, government buildings, prisons and so on. [38551/22]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has no direct role in the procurement of food for public sector settings such as schools, hospitals, government buildings, and prisons.
The Office of Government Procurement, which is under the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, has responsibility for the National Public Procurement Policy Framework which sets the overarching policy framework for public procurement in Ireland.
The guidelines on Green Public Procurement, updated recently by the Environmental Protection Agency, take account of the Farm to Fork commitment on minimum mandatory criteria for sustainable food procurement to promote healthy and sustainable diets in schools and public institutions and reflects the Programme for Government commitment.
The new Guideline includes guidance on procurement for food and catering services for public bodies and institutions and, for example, includes criteria referring to "Low and zero emission delivery vehicles; Reduction of transport emissions through logistics and route planning.", which may assist in the public procurement of locally sourced food.
The Department will be engaging further with the Office of Government Procurement on ensuring effective implementation of the Programme for Government commitment while taking account of the EU rules on public procurement.
