The Minister with Special Responsibility for Public Procurement and the Government’s Chief Procurement Officer have welcomed the publication of ProcurCompEU, a new European framework to support the professionalisation of public procurement. The framework has now been recommended for all Irish public bodies in order to increase professionalisation across the sector.
As a sign of its support for ProcurCompEU and its commitment to professionalisation, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) are partaking in a pilot project with the OECD that will review the adoption of, and alignment to, the framework by the OGP.
Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with Special Responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government, and eGovernment, Ossian Smyth TD, said:
“Public procurement forms an important element of the Programme for Government, supporting our ambitions to improve environmental outcomes, provide opportunities for business, and achieve value for money for the public. Increasing professionalisation in the practice of procurement is critical to ensuring successful outcomes across these goals.”
Endorsing ProcurCompEU, Paul Quinn, Chief Procurement Officer said:
“Investing in the development of specialist, expert procurement professionals is a critical element of the programme of reforming public procurement in Ireland. The OGP recognises this and, for example, already promotes the professional development of public servants working in delivery roles that involve procurement through our Commercial Skills Academy.
“This new framework, developed in partnership across the European Union, offers a structure to support our ongoing commitment to developing our people. We are pleased to partner with the OECD in a pilot application of the framework and I look forward to this becoming the model for assisting procurement professionals in their development across the whole of the public service.”
ProcurCompEU is an initiative of the European Commission, part of a public procurement package which sets out priorities for EU procurement policy. Professionalisation policies form a key element of this package, ensuring buyers have the necessary skills, knowledge and integrity. ProcurCompEU will help both public bodies and individuals assess their competences and knowledge of public procurement, identify skills gaps, and design targeted learning and development tools.
ProcurCompEU is a competency based tool which assists organisations with training and career development in line with the overall strategic plan of the organisation. ProcurCompEU defines 30 key competences in a ‘competency matrix’ to provide a common reference for public procurement professionals in the EU and beyond. ProcurCompEU also contains a self-assessment tool and a generic training curriculum.
The framework is primarily targeted at public procurement practitioners and managers, and can be flexibly applied by all types of public bodies regardless of size or area of operation. It does not aim to provide a one size-fit all approach and can be adapted to the context in which procurement practitioners operate
