David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the matter of getting companies involved in the sector, Circular 05/2023, entitled Initiatives to Assist SMEs in Public Procurement, was recently published by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I have come across companies that say they find it very difficult to tender and that have missed out on opportunities. Perhaps there is a role for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in this area to further assist companies, particularly Irish ones, to ensure they do not miss out. I know of a case in which an Irish company was not able to tender for a large contract given by one of the State agencies. People are coming in from abroad to do the work here although the expertise exists here. I could probably talk to the witnesses offline about that at some stage if that would be useful.