945. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the identity of the interested party that raised matters of concern in relation to the Office of Government Procurement’s planned competition to renew the Microsoft licensing framework; the nature of the concerns raised; the basis on which the OGP determined it was prudent to cancel the competition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62122/26]

The Office of Government Procurement (OGP), a Division of my Department, acts as a Central Purchasing Body for a range of goods and services, including ICT.

It should be noted that the OGP does not make any determination as to what types or brands of technology are used to support the State in its work but will seek to aggregate ICT spend where demand exists and where it is feasible to establish a central procurement arrangement to meet that demand in compliance with Public Procurement Regulations.

In this case, the OGP published an open competition to establish a Framework Agreement for the Provision of Microsoft Solution Renewals and Associated Services. The framework is intended to provide Public Service Bodies with a compliant procurement mechanism through which they may conduct their own competitions for Microsoft solution renewals and associated services. A framework agreement is not itself a contract or a binding commitment to purchase goods or services.

Public procurement competitions follow an open and transparent public process. As can arise with any public procurement competition, the OGP received observations and clarifications from economic operators in respect of this competition. It should be noted that observations and clarifications can also arise via the OGP’s Tender Advisory Service.

In this case, the matters raised by an ICT market economic operator included queries concerning the nature, scope and definitions of certain services included in the proposed framework.

Having carefully considered the matters raised, the OGP concluded that the best course of action was to cancel the competition, refine and more clearly define the relevant scope and specifications, and return to the market at the earliest opportunity with a revised competition.

The OGP expects to publish the revised competition before the end of 2026, with the objective of establishing the new Framework Agreement before the existing Framework Agreement expires in September 2027. The existing Framework Agreement remains available to Public Service Bodies in the interim.