Mr. Paul Quinn:

We enable bodies to come together under any individual structure. We do not require any one party to meet all of the requirements. They can collectively meet all of the requirements with regard to how the consortium is put together. We do not require them to take on any individual form.

I will speak about engagement because it is important to reflect upon it. From an Oireachtas perspective, this is the third committee I have come before in the past three months to explain what is happening in procurement. We are certainly listening to what Deputies tell us and we are very open, as the Secretary General stated, to learning, listening and adapting our approach and processes. We also have in place a high level group on SME access through which we meet the business development entities of the State such as Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and InterTradeIreland. We come up with programmes and solutions to assist SMEs compete. It cannot simply be to the exclusion of other parties that we support SMEs. We want to make SMEs fit to compete fairly and have a level playing pitch. The Deputy is well aware of the work we do with IntertradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland on supporting training and awareness programmes-----