Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
266. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the extent to which he continues to monitor issues such as public procurement and-or the removal of any other administrative obstructions that might hinder the progress of the national development plan; those areas that he has identified as central in such issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31349/23]
View answerPublic procurement refers to the process by which public authorities, such as Government Departments or Local Authorities, purchase work, goods or services from companies.
EU law sets out minimum harmonised public procurement rules. These rules govern the way public authorities and certain public utility operators purchase goods, works and services. They are transposed into national legislation and apply to tenders whose monetary value exceeds a certain amount. For tenders of lower value, national rules apply. Nevertheless, these national rules also have to respect the general principles of EU law.
With respect to public works, the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) is a structure that has been developed to deliver the Government’s objectives in relation to public sector construction procurement. It has been operational since 2007 and consists of a suite of best practice guidance, standard contracts and generic template documents to assist contracting authorities in meeting their legal obligations. All the documents that make up the framework are available online.
The CWMF is undergoing progressive refinement that will see significant changes to the manner in which public works projects are delivered in the coming years with a greater emphasis on the adoption of digital delivery methods.
In March this year, I informed Government of a package of significant actions aimed at enhancing project delivery for the National Development Plan (NDP). The actions include significant changes to reduce the administrative burden for Departments and public bodies developing capital projects. One of these specific changes was the general threshold for major projects increasing from €100m to €200m. These thresholds will be reviewed every 3 years to ensure they are still appropriate.
This will mean for projects with an estimated cost of less that €200m, Departments will no longer be required to engage with the External Assurance Process (EAP) or to submit these projects to my Department for technical review. As required within the Public Spending Code, the relevant Approving Authority must carry out a technical review of project proposals issued to them by their Sponsoring Agencies and it is the responsibility of the Accounting Officer to ensure these reviews ensure compliance with the requirements of the Code.
It is the responsibility of the relevant Accounting Officer to ensure that procedures are in place to ensure full compliance with the Public Spending Code within their Department/Office and within the bodies under the aegis of the Department, including drawing up sector-specific procedures, in line with the requirements of the Public Spending Code (or the Infrastructure Guidelines when published), for management and appraisal of capital projects and programmes as appropriate. Government Departments, as Approving Authorities, are to carry out assessments of proposals at each stage of the project lifecycle focussing on:
• Compliance with the Public Spending Code;
• Compliance with sector-specific appraisal guidance; and
• Appropriate policy and programme fit.
Further appraisal guidance will be published shortly, known as the Infrastructure Guidelines, as part of capital project development, which will replace the existing Public Spending Code.
