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

I appreciate the limitations on what Mr. Quinn can say on the specifics of a particular tender, but I would like to speak on that issue of consortia coming together. There is a cross-party group of Deputies which has been active on this issue, of which Mr. Quinn is probably aware, and it has raised the following issue which I would like to put to him. Although a group is formed for the purposes of the application, there must be a principal tenderer. The difficulty that presents for micro businesses is quite considerable, because that principle carries not just the administrative burden but the primary responsibility on behalf of the group. For practical purposes, we are told that just does not work. I am not gainsaying the work of InterTradeIreland and other organisations that might be of a different scale, but in many cases when dealing with small organisations or micro businesses, that is not a practical proposition. Does Mr. Quinn understand that?