Transparency International (TI) Ireland has long argued that public procurement – one of government's largest and, according to the European Commission, highest corruption-risk activities – needs stronger transparency and accountability safeguards. Our submission to the Office of Government Procurement's (OGP) 2025 consultation called for these principles to sit at the heart of Ireland's first national public procurement strategy.
Positive steps
The resulting document, Procuring for Our Future: National Public Procurement Strategy 2026-2030, published on 5 August, is a sign of progress in terms of data transparency. Naming ‘Transparency’ as one of four core values and dedicating an entire pillar to ‘safeguarding public trust’, the Strategy commits to a public data-analytics website, Irish participation in the EU's Public Procurement Data Space, systematic capture of spend data, and mandatory publication of Corporate Procurement Plans. In addition, the new Strategy mentions the important role of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in working with the OGP to tackle bid-rigging and cartel activity.
These measures echo previous calls from TI Ireland and other civil society and international organisations to increase transparency in Irish public contracting. This includes our call for the OGP to reverse the planned removal of historical data from eTenders – a move that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also flagged as ‘a loss of transparency’.
Outstanding gaps
However, measured against international standards and good practice,* the new Strategy leaves significant and concerning gaps around tackling corruption and promoting integrity.
- First, it sidesteps corruption and integrity risk. ‘Corruption’ is not mentioned in the Strategy, despite public procurement being acknowledged internationally as high risk for corruption. Moreover, its 51 Actions contain no plans for conflict-of-interest management systems for procurement officials, no beneficial ownership or due diligence checks on bidding companies, no integrity pacts, and no independent or civil society role in overseeing implementation.
- Second, corruption risk isn't confined to bid-rigging or cartel behaviour. The Eurosurgical scandal, in which health staff were alleged to have received gifts and holidays while the firm overcharged hospitals, showed how weak conflicts of interest and gift/hospitality controls can be just as damaging as collusion between bidders. A strategy silent on ethics training, conflict-of-interest declarations and other safeguards for procurement staff leaves these risks unaddressed.
- Third, the heightened risks in defence and crisis procurement receive insufficient attention. Defence purchasing involves high-value contracts, complex supply chains, secrecy and frequent use of non-competitive procedures, and rapidly rising defence spending can outpace oversight. While the Strategy mentions risk management around crisis procurement, the opportunities for political favouritism and fraud seen in some countries during Covid-19 deserve special attention.
A first national procurement strategy is a genuine milestone, and positioning transparency as a key value in the new Strategy is to be welcomed. But without acknowledging the risk of corruption – and building the appropriate safeguards and integrity promotion measures that follow – Ireland’s procurement system remains vulnerable to illicit activity.
* See, for example: the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Resolution 10/9; the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement; and the Open Contracting Partnership's Global Principles.