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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026

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Tuesday, 3 March 2026

Questions (984)

Albert Dolan

Question:

984. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to confirm, in respect of his Department’s published quarterly reports of procurement-related payments or purchase orders over €20,000 (details supplied), where such reports are published in PDF format but originate from an Excel or similar spreadsheet file, that the underlying data was fully expanded and validated prior to conversion so that all columns including supplier names and descriptions are fully visible and readable in the published document; to clarify whether any quality assurance process is applied to ensure that data is not truncated or partially obscured in the PDF version; and where the source file exists in machine-readable format, whether his Department will make the original Excel or CSV file available alongside the PDF in the interest of transparency, accessibility and data re-use. [16587/26]

Written answers

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy James Lawless)

When publishing our quarterly reports on purchase orders over €20,000, my Department makes every effort to ensure that all information provided is fully visible and readable to the user.

The Deputy should note that the preparation of these quarterly reports is a shared service between the Department of Education and Youth; and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

At present, my department publishes these reports in PDF format. However, with effect from the publication of the next quarterly report, my Department will also make these reports available in Excel format to further support transparency and ease of use.

The quarterly reports are available to read on the department website at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/organisation-information/payments-for-goods-and-services-over-20-thousand/

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