878. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the measures currently in place to ensure fair access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to public procurement opportunities; whether his Department intends to undertake a review of SME participation and success rates in public procurement competitions; the bodies responsible for monitoring and auditing contracting authorities' compliance with procurement rules relating to tender evaluation, scoring transparency and feedback to unsuccessful tenderers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55813/26]

The National Public Procurement Strategy will be brought to Government on 29 July and published thereafter. In line with commitments set out in the Programme for Government, my Department has undertaken a review of the public procurement process to make it more transparent and work to ensure greater participation from SMEs. As part of this review, my officials undertook extensive consultation, including a public consultation, regional workshops, a dedicated supplier webinar and direct engagement with SMEs, social enterprises, public buyers and policymakers.

This engagement has been critical in identifying the key opportunities and challenges facing the public procurement system and ensuring that the Strategy reflects stakeholder priorities and wider Government objectives.

The Strategy represents a significant step towards realising the Government’s ambition to harness the spending power of the State as a strategic investment mechanism, delivering value for money and supporting enterprise growth in order to achieve better outcomes for our people, our society, our economy and our environment.

Two pillars in the forthcoming Strategy focus on SME participation and transparency. Pillar 1, investing in our enterprise base sets out objectives and actions to make it easier for SMEs to participate, particularly start-ups, microenterprises and social enterprises, thereby driving competition and value for money and delivering better public services. Pillar 3 Safeguarding public trust sets out the ambition for a procurement system that is transparent, fair and legally certain and that earns and maintains public trust by ensuring that public money is spent in an efficient and responsible way

Public procurement practices are subject to audit and scrutiny under the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993, and the Local Government Reform Act 2014.