179. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for an update on the commitment in the policy statement on developing a new public procurement strategy for Ireland (details supplied) including the status of the OGP-OECD project referenced as providing a roadmap for that strategy; whether the roadmap has now been completed; the expected timeline for publication of the national digitalisation strategy; and the key measures under consideration to improve interoperability between procurement, contract, purchase order and payment systems across the public service. [53817/26]

The OGP–OECD project has concluded with the publication of Public Procurement in Ireland: A Roadmap for Digital Development. This was published on December 1, 2025 – see:

www.gov.ie/en/office-of-government-procurement/news/public-procurement-in-ireland-a-roadmap-for-digital-development-20252031/

This roadmap sets out a vision and enablers for user-focused digital solutions that enable users to seamlessly navigate the complexities of the end-to-end procurement process and outlines its alignment with the forthcoming National Public Procurement Strategy.

For the purposes of the Roadmap, the definition of the end-to-end procurement process is ‘the pre-tender stage through tendering to contracting stage’. The procure to pay process was out of scope for the project. As the Deputy is aware, it is the legal responsibility of Departments to ensure that they comply with all public procurement requirements.  The annual sanction from myself, as the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, to spend public money stipulates that Accounting Officers must have in place appropriate measures to operate in full compliance with all public procurement obligations.

While the Roadmap focuses specifically on the digital transformation of public procurement, the forthcoming National Public Procurement Strategy goes further by providing a holistic blueprint for the future direction of public procurement over the next five years. The Strategy will, for the first time, establish a shared vision, values and objectives for the public procurement system, providing a common framework for the procurement of goods, services and works across the public sector. One of the objectives of the Strategy is to embed emerging technologies, including AI, across the public sector and continually enhance the digital tools used in public procurement nationally. This objective is aligned with the Roadmap. I expect to bring the Strategy to Government in the coming weeks.