Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My second question is on Vote 16 on the Valuation Office. If memory serves correctly, there is a valuation Bill before the Seanad that the Minister has indicated he will accept. The Government's valuation Bill is long awaited. Where does it stand? Is there provision within this Vote for the increased levels of activity that would be expected to arise from a new Bill? I do not need to go into the issue of rates across the country or state that many companies are dissatisfied with the rate of progress being made on revaluations. The Valuation Office is critical to the SME sector. I would appreciate some information in this regard.

My third question is on public procurement. Special consideration of this issue in the committee's work programme could be useful. Mr. Quinn made an interesting reference to meetings in Dublin and Belfast for SMEs. There is probably a need for a wider ranging road show than just Dublin and Belfast. I support the idea of getting the maximum possible efficiencies for the State and I welcome the ambitious targets that have been set, but I have also seen the carnage that an SME can experience, possibly because of its own lack of knowledge, but equally because of the public procurement office's failure to reach out and engage with representative bodies and individual SMEs sufficiently with a view to making them aware of what is happening.

Would the regionalisation of tenders be considered? In the education sector, a contract was awarded in a specific area to a single company. Like those who are still in the business, I would argue that the company was not in a position to implement that tender nationally. This damaged many other players in the industry and raised the question of whether it was feasible or desirable to have a regionalised approach to tendering. The Minister might comment. It is something that-----