Mr. Paul Quinn:

The first question concerns the geographic basis for the allocation of lots. In Circular 10/14 we have given guidance to public procurers that they need to perform a market analysis. Market analysis is critically important in that markets are structured differently depending on what the goods and services are. For example, the market for desktop software is an international market dominated by two or three suppliers. There is no desktop software supplier who is big in Kerry, for example, it is Microsoft and that is the answer. Something like cleaning services, however, would be very much locally delivered. There would need to be a strategy that reflects local delivery in the context of cleaning services because that is what matters. A supplier of cleaning services would not come from Donegal to Dingle to clean the local Garda station; it would not happen in that way. The lotting strategy would be determined as the market is analysed for each individual good or service. If I am buying software I might lot it in a fundamentally different way from locally delivered goods or services. If I need my PC fixed and I am sitting in Dingle, there is no point in ringing somebody in Dublin to come all the way down in a vehicle. I could have a strategy to deliver that locally. That is the geographic basis that the Deputy asked about.

The second question concerned Wales. They are centralising approximately 20% of their spend in their new national procurement services. We are going to go beyond that to 50% in our model. When we have looked at our goods and services and how they are split out, we have a higher percentage. The UK model is fundamentally different from the Irish model in that local government in the UK does a huge amount of delivery of goods and services across the island, for example many health and education services. That is not the case in Ireland so our model is a little bit different.

We have held meet-the-buyer events outside of Dublin. We had one in Kilkenny previously and we also put our wellies on at the ploughing championships recently.

I have spoken at quite a number of events outside Dublin, including one held by the Cork Chamber of Commerce. We have somebody attending an event in the west in November. If there is a sense that the approach is Dublin-centric, that is not the case.

The meet-the-buyer events at a national level are organised by InterTradeIreland, which is jointly funded North and South. It is a cross-Border body and we hold public procurement events North and South. People from here travel to Belfast - some are in their cars on the way to the event that is being held tomorrow - and buyers from the North come to Dublin for events. I have good anecdotal information that the committee will be glad to hear. When I visited other jurisdictions, including the north of Wales and Scotland, I found that everybody complains about people coming across borders to deliver goods and services. The complaint is not unique to Ireland. There is a very strong perception that services are being provided by other jurisdictions.