226. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether any public body conducts systemic analysis of procurement data for the purposes of identifying corruption risks, bid-rigging indicators or supplier concentration risks. [75167/26]

As a division of my Department, the Policy, Service Delivery, eProcurement, Data, Analytics and Systems Division (OGP) is responsible for national public procurement policy, eProcurement, the national eTendering platform, service delivery, and data. The OGP engages on an ongoing basis with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

The CCPC is the statutory body with responsibility for promoting compliance with, and enforcing, competition and consumer protection law in Ireland, including in relation to the detection and prevention of bid rigging.

At present, there is no formal automated mechanism in place to systematically identify or manage potential collusion between suppliers. Contracting authorities are responsible for conducting their own procurement processes in accordance with national and EU public procurement rules. In practice, buyers compare bids manually to identify any indications of collusive behaviour.

My Department assists buyers through the OGP’s Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services, directing them to the CCPC Business Guide for Detecting Bid Rigging. Where a contracting authority suspects bid-rigging or collusive tendering, such activities represent serious infringements of competition law and should be brought to the attention of the CCPC. In these instances, buyers are advised to report findings promptly to the CCPC.

OGP has engaged directly with the CCPC with a view to enhancing awareness of the CCPC’s role in competition protection among public sector practitioners and businesses. The CCPC is represented on the SME Advisory Group, which is chaired by the Minister of State.

The recently published Procuring for our Future: National Public Procurement Strategy recognises the need to ensure that the full benefits of competitive procurement are realised to secure value for money and deliver high-quality public services. As part of the Strategy's implementation, the CCPC and the OGP have committed to working together to promote awareness of collusive tendering among both public buyers and suppliers.

This collaboration is intended to strengthen the prevention and detection of bid-rigging by increasing awareness among public buyers of the warning signs of anti-competitive behaviour, while also highlighting for suppliers the significant legal consequences of engaging in such practices.