Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree with the Minister's opening comments. I sat on the Dáil reform committee and we gave as much thought as we could to reforming the committee system to enable it to work in conjunction with the Government and the rest of the Oireachtas on matters like these. Delegated time for committees, separate from plenary time, such as we have today was part of that, and any recommendations would be very helpful to the reform committee as it seeks to improve the process next year. We are changing a lot of things at the moment and the reform committee will become a standing committee to continue to look at how we do our business.

There was a question on Government procurement and SMEs, which is a very pertinent issue. Some 66% of public money in this area goes to small and medium enterprises but we can still do better. Members will be aware that Directive 2014/24 has been transposed here. This directive looks at ways more Government business could go to small and medium enterprises around the country, such as with e-tendering and consortia bidding. In addition, financial capacity requirements are less onerous, generally being twice the contract value. In these ways we are trying to encourage SMEs to bid and help them to be successful. We have all heard stories from companies who have found difficulties in this process so the Office of Government Procurement has increased its outreach and now it goes out to meet businesses and holds meet-the-buyer events and tender events, at a recent one of which there were some 500 people. It is a very positive and proactive engagement. I want to make sure I am in the position where I can hear if there are problems with certain businesses. I would like to help people work through these problems and Deputies from all parties and none have already come to me to ask me to do that. I will roll this out from September.

The programme for Government has a couple of interesting commitments which aim to increase capacity in this regard. One relates to reviewing the tender advisory service, something we want to do by 2017. Another is a consultation on the possibility of setting up a procurement ombudsman. This could be a very positive development if it is done in the right way but it could also have downsides. We are working within EU constraints but we are trying to make it more accessible for small and medium enterprises. It is difficult for companies and businesses who, in the past, had Government contracts but have now found that, with the new arrangements to save money for the taxpayer and State, they are not as successful as in the past.