44. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he intends to build upon the national procurement strategy, released in August 2026, with legislative action that delivers real reform to the public procurement system. [74825/26]

Procuring for our Future: National Public Procurement Strategy 2026-2030 represents a transformational milestone for public procurement in Ireland and a significant step towards delivering meaningful reform across the procurement system. For the first time, it sets out a shared vision, values and objectives for public procurement, establishing a clear strategic direction for the next five years.

The Strategy is both ambitious and practical. It is firmly grounded in the challenges and opportunities identified during the extensive consultation process that my officials carried out. This included public bodies, suppliers and other stakeholders with an interest in the future direction of public procurement in Ireland. Reflecting this engagement, the Strategy contains fifty-one actions across five strategic pillars focused on investing in our enterprise base, incorporating social, green, innovation and resilience considerations into procurement, safeguarding public trust, strengthening procurement capability across the public sector and reducing complexity for buyers and suppliers alike.

The Strategy provides a comprehensive roadmap for change and is underpinned by a robust implementation framework, including clear actions, key performance indicators and reporting arrangements to ensure progress is monitored and delivered. Implementation will be overseen by a dedicated National Public Procurement Strategy Implementation Group, chaired by an Assistant Secretary in my Department, bringing together representatives from across the public procurement ecosystem to support delivery and monitor progress.

As the deputy is aware, the European Commission published its proposed Regulation for public procurement last month. The proposal aims to streamline procurement processes across the European Union, reduce administrative burdens and strengthen the capacity of public procurement to support effective investment in public services, infrastructure and strategic policy objectives.

The regulation is one of the priority files for Ireland to Chair negotiations on, during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and is part of the One Europe, One Market Roadmap, scheduled for adoption by the end of 2027 and entry into law by 2030.

Under the Irish Presidency the Department will promote the competitiveness agenda and supports for small businesses. It will progress three important agendas:  strategic, simplification and harmonisation, while balancing practical real-world commercial application of what is an ambitious overhaul by the EU of Public Procurement rules.

Therefore, any national legislation would need to wait until the final Act is adopted.

Collectively, the reforms being progressed at both national and European level demonstrate a clear commitment to delivering meaningful and lasting reform across the public procurement system.

My priority is the effective implementation of the Strategy and the ambitious package of reforms it contains. Accordingly, my Department's focus is on delivering the actions set out in the Strategy and supporting public bodies to realise its vision of a more strategic, innovative, sustainable and transparent public procurement system that supports SMEs, promotes competition, delivers value for money and contributes to better public services.