Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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In the North of Ireland where Mr. Conor Murphy, MLA, was looking at the development of tenders in respect of roads, certain elements were put into contracts. They were broken up as much as possible without incurring extra costs on the state and ensured a certain level of local employment, including apprentices and individuals from the long-term unemployed. It worked successfully. With no disrespect to anybody, there is different culture among people working in the public service and those in the private sector. Many businesses are at breaking point and find it difficult to operate. An application for a tender is a very expensive process and can takes weeks on end with full teams working on a weekly basis on a tender. They could prepare ten tenders and have nothing to show at the end of the day. While we are giving confidence to the State that the company will be able to fulfil the contract and has the necessary balance sheet to deal with any problems, we are cutting down on red tape and ensuring such contracts are accessible to small business.

Has the Office of Public Works ever advertised a tender in the European Union that fell below the requirement value for tendering there?