Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My next point relates to something which interests me which the Minister had to say in respect of the Office of Government Procurement. Towards the end of his comments the Minister stated the office will work within EU regulations to support the Irish small and medium enterprise sector to identify challenges for them when transacting business with the public service and, most importantly, to come up with practical solutions to these challenges where possible. These are very positive statements and are very welcome but will the Minister elaborate on what exactly they mean in practical terms? I have dealt with any number of SMEs and microbusinesses in respect of the procurement process and some of the large projects, not least the development at Grangegorman. I am aware that whereas people understand the need for efficiency to save money and to respect EU directives and law there is an anxiety among many people in the sector that they do not get the type of access they need to win work themselves and, as a consequence, to produce more jobs. Mr. Quinn is familiar and in charge in a practical sense of much of this. Will the Minister elaborate on what the sentiment in his remarks means practically?