221. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether lobbying activity in relation to procurement design, specifications or pre-tender market engagement is centrally monitored. [75171/26]

There is no centralised system operated by my Department or by the Office of Government Procurement that monitors lobbying activity in relation to the design of procurement competitions, the development of specifications, or pre-tender market engagement across the public sector.

Individual Accounting Officers are responsible for ensuring that their public procurement functions are discharged in line with the standard accounting and procurement rules and procedures and are publicly accountable for expenditure incurred. Individual contracting authorities are responsible for establishing arrangements for ensuring the proper conduct of their affairs, including conformance to standards of good governance and accountability regarding procurement.

Contracting authorities may engage with the market prior to commencing a procurement process where this assists in informing procurement requirements and understanding available solutions. Any such engagement must be conducted in a manner that does not distort competition or confer an unfair advantage on any economic operator. The eTenders platform is used for publication of pre-market consultations.

Information on preliminary market consultations that are published on eTenders is publicly available. However, there is no central monitoring system that records or tracks lobbying activity in connection with procurement design, specifications or pre-tender market engagement across all contracting authorities.