Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Can I interrupt Ms McGrath? Her opening statement stated that one of the NPS's goals is to encourage participation by SMEs in public procurement and that to this end, the eTenders website is a source for publishing and accessing tender notices on Government and public sector procurement. In her speech, Ms McGrath stated that as efforts continue to strive towards a more efficient delivery of public services, the NPS will continue its education programme and hold seminars on public procurement. If this is what the NPS is prescribing and encouraging within the public sector, it automatically discourages small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly companies that are starting up. We are trying to push new start-up companies but they are obviously being excluded because of conditions in contracts. We either decide to have a public policy to encourage as many start-up companies as possible or we ring fence existing companies that work with the OPW and the NPS. It appears to me that everything is ring-fenced.