Mr. John Murphy:

There was a requirement on what the scrutiny report could cover which was the development of the EU in the six month period. The report covered January to June 2012 and was laid before the Houses in August. Oireachtas committee are under pressure so it is inevitable that the report is only being reached now. The report was not intended to be a detailed assessment of programmes and I am not sure how one could provide same. The report is on developments within a particular period. One would need a different structure to assess the effectiveness of programmes over a longer period. I am not sure how one would do it but I accept the point made by the Deputy.

The Deputy mentioned a number of issues about public procurement. The EU rules for public procurement protect the integrity of procurement processes and ensure openness and transparency which provide opportunities to ensure access for SMEs. Within Ireland the main responsibility for public procurement policy is with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The National Procurement Service also does a lot of work on behalf of public authorities and works out of the Office of Public Works on a lot of the large-scale procurement issues. My Department works closely with both Departments, in particular on finding ways to improve access for SMEs. For example, we held workshops that brought together large public procurers such as the ESB, HSE, the OPW and local authorities in order to examine ways to make it easier for SMEs, in particular to avoid over-specifying what is needed to procure. Instead of saying I want 10,000 widgets, one would say I have a problem for which I need a solution. Innovative small firms may be able to help devise a solution. Perhaps there is a different way of solving a problem than what was first thought. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has also worked on guidelines to ensure that can be broken down into smaller lots without damaging value for money and, therefore, facilitating access by smaller companies.

Social clauses are not a panacea for all our ills. They can just as easily be used to prevent Irish firms from accessing markets abroad as protecting Irish or local firms within our market. I would be careful about what is put into an EU-wide regulation.

The Deputy referred to state aid and the reality is that the Commission has the competence for regional state aid roles. It is not a competence of the Council. The Commission has proposals which would significantly tighten the basis for regional state aid. Along with a number of other member states, we have concerns about the impact of those proposals. We will be lobbying the Commission on what decision it might make, which I expect to come towards the middle of this year.

The Deputy asked whether a referendum would be required concerning the unified patent court. At the moment, a number of states are required to sign the agreement in the first instance and then, subsequently, to ratify it. A referendum would be required in Ireland in order to ratify it. We will not know for about six weeks how many countries are willing to sign the agreement. That must include the three large member states where it is envisaged that divisions of the court would be located. We are not yet clear about whether there will be sufficient member states to facilitate the formal signing of the agreement at the February Council. It might therefore be delayed until later in the year. Subsequently, and prior to ratification, a referendum would be required in Ireland and Denmark.