6. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the reforms planned or under consideration to improve value for money, risk allocation and cost control in public procurement for State-funded projects; whether changes to tender evaluation criteria, including the weighting applied to price versus quality and delivery capacity, are being examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27862/26]

Sentiment score: 0.24

Public procurement is one of the State's most powerful levers for delivering quality infrastructure and services, yet it is also where we see repeated cost overruns, delays and failed delivery. Good procurement is not about spending more money; it is about spending it wisely. We have to have robust processes in place. The Minister might update us as to what reforms are planned or under consideration to strengthen value-for-money considerations, risk allocation and cost control in the State.

Sentiment score: 0.26

I very much welcome the references to frameworks, guidance and training. That is all very important. We repeatedly see at the public accounts committee systemic failures in procurement processes. I have worked in this space. I am a lawyer. I have advised in this space. Unless we have people who understand the business case and who put in place appropriate milestones, and unless we have appropriate legal protections in place to mitigate the risks and make sure that delivery is pegged to payment, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We see it time and time again. We have a SUSI grant project with €6.4 million paid that is at pre-project phase. The national train control centre will see a €40 million overrun and more. We have to have the confidence and capability, and the Department has to assess budget versus delivery. We need to make sure with the projects for which we are awarding contracts that we award them on the basis that they have the competence to deliver them on time and on budget. I very much hope the Department will request that all Departments and agencies will provide annual reports on budget versus outturn.

Sentiment score: 0.16

I appreciate that. The Minister of State is right to say that we absolutely have to have the data to ensure that our procurement process is robust and is delivering value for money. It is essential. We are here representing the taxpayers and we have to make sure that the taxpayers are getting value for money for services, not only capital projects but also IT projects. This is where we are seeing systemic failures right across the board. I hope the Minister of State will be able to provide an update as to what evaluation processes the Department has been undertaking in recent months across all Departments and agencies.

Sentiment score: 0.24