Developing a National Procurement Strategy for Ireland

Fergal Grogan has worked in the National Public Procurement Policy Unit in the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) since 2019. The OGP, which operates as part of the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform in Ireland, aims to shape a future for public procurement that is transparent and socially, environmentally and economically sustainable and, in its role as a central purchasing body, deliver quality procurement solutions that meet the needs of the public service and benefit society. Fergal’s work focuses on promoting the participation of SMEs in public procurement and strategic public procurement.

Last year, Fergal’s team coordinated with DG Grow, ICLEI Europe, and PwC EU services to organise a workshop in Ireland as part of the Public Procurement Dialogues project, which culminated in the publication of Ireland’s Strategic Public Procurement Roadmap earlier this year. In March, Fergal oversaw the launch of a public consultation to inform the development of a first National Public Procurement Strategy.

The Public Procurement Dialogues project was launched by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) with the aim of organising workshops in the 27 Member States to develop a dialogue on the use of public procurement for strategic (environmental, social and innovation) purposes. You can watch the video that was made at the project's annual event to see the impact it has had in several EU countries.

Within the framework of the Public Procurement Dialogues project, launched by DG GROW (EC), a workshop on advancing strategic public procurement in Ireland took place on 25 September 2024, which gathered participants from various organisations. What motivated and encouraged the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) to host this workshop?

The workshop not only provided a platform for communicating Irish stakeholders’ perspectives and interests to the wider European community, but it also fostered further dialogue between Ireland and our European neighbours. 

As a small advanced open economy, Ireland benefits from being part of a large political and economic union, therefore, the OGP had a clear stake in participating in these dialogues in collaboration with our EU colleagues. Secondly, this project, and the resulting Roadmap, was a critical step in Ireland’s own dialogue on the use of strategic procurement and is part of the broader development of Ireland’s first national public procurement strategy.

The workshop offered an opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities for the implementation of strategic public procurement in Ireland. What were the main outcomes from the workshop, and which actions have been taken since? 

For Ireland, the workshop helped inform the initial pre-consultation scoping phase in the development of our national public procurement strategy. At the workshop, participants identified some of the challenges and opportunities around implementing strategic public procurement practices and formulated possible solutions and associated actions. In the context of the Public Procurement Dialogues project, DG Grow encouraged each Member State to develop a Roadmap or Action Plan outlining the measures that can further support the implementation of strategic public procurement. The resulting Roadmap reflects these initial stakeholder discussions arising from the workshop and the follow-up meeting with participants, held within the context of the project, in December 2024. The Roadmap is not a legally binding document. Instead, the challenges, solutions and suggested actions outlined in the Roadmap will inform the public consultation for the National Strategy. Responsibility for the suggested actions crosses a number of government departments so significant levels of consultation and collaboration are required in order to achieve cross-departmental and cross-sectoral buy-in and ownership. 

The OGP took an action to bring the challenges, solutions and actions presented in Ireland’s Roadmap into the next stage of strategy development, the public consultation phase, to open up this important conversation to all those with an interest in the future direction of public procurement in Ireland.

Ireland is currently developing its first National Public Procurement Strategy. How will the discussions at the workshop be reflected in the national strategy?

The discussions at the workshop helped inform the public consultation, which will include a stakeholder survey, as well as regional roadshows and webinars. Last June, the OGP published a policy statement towards the development of a national public procurement strategy. The statement identified four core themes to build the strategy upon: Strategic Public Procurement, Transparency, Digitalisation and Informed Delivery. In addition to these four core themes, based on discussions at the workshop, views are also being sought as part of the public consultation on a further seven themes, including Public trust, Capability building for public buyers, Support for SMEs, Central Purchasing, Infrastructure and Resilience. 

At what stage of the strategy development process are you at and when do you estimate it will be published? What is the objective of this strategy?

We have just launched a public consultation to inform the development of the strategy. This is a crucial step and one that allows all those with an interest in the future direction of public procurement in Ireland to inform the strategy, which is expected to be published in late 2025, subject to Government approval. The ambition of the strategy is to improve the lives of the people of Ireland through the delivery of strategic, innovative, sustainable and transparent public procurement that supports competition and value for money. The strategy will be aligned with Ireland’s Public Service Transformation Strategy, which sets out a vision for an “inclusive, high quality and integrated public service provision that meets the needs and improves the lives of the people of Ireland”. The National Public Procurement Strategy will contribute to this vision, by supporting our SMEs, developing the commercial capability of public buyers and policy makers in Ireland, taking steps to ensure that the system is sufficiently agile to respond to wider economic, environmental, societal and geopolitical challenges, and fostering a culture of innovation in public procurement to ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved for those living here.

In April 2024 Ireland published its new Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2027. What are the main action points of this document?

Buying Greener, Ireland’s GPP Strategy and Action Plan has a number of key objectives, including enhancing GPP as a key tool for the public sector in helping Ireland’s transition to a sustainable, circular and low-carbon economy. The strategy commits to the overall target that all public bodies include GPP criteria in all tender competitions using public funds, where possible. 

Buying Greener sets out key principles to be adhered to by all public sector bodies that are using public funds as part of their procurement processes. The strategy also includes 54 actions and 12 targets for key sectors and product categories aimed at driving the implementation of green and circular procurement practices across the public sector. Key areas of focus in the strategy include measures to progress GPP implementation in the public sector; GPP monitoring and reporting; GPP training and awareness; and further development of national GPP guidance and criteria. The OGP works closely with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, who published the GPP Strategy and Action Plan, to support the implementation of the strategy. We have an important role in delivering a number of key actions, including the provision of updated instructions to government departments and the public sector regarding new GPP obligations included in the strategy.