Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

The issue I am raising is different from the very serious issue the House has just been debating. At the end of the summer, the Government gave a commitment to make it easier for Irish companies to apply for public procurement contracts - essentially, to compete to do work for the State and its agencies. Each year, up to €15 billion is spent on public procurement contracts. I am raising this issue because I am frustrated that Ireland continues to be absolutely out of step with practically all other EU member states in terms of the percentage of public procurement contracts awarded to companies outside the member state. France, Spain and Poland award less than 1% of state contracts to companies from other countries; Italy, Denmark and the UK award less than 2% of state contracts to companies from other countries; and Sweden, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands award less than 3% of state contracts to companies from other countries. Ireland, by contrast, gives almost 18% of the €15 billion we spend getting things done - building roads and schools, putting software programmes in place for State agencies and building boats for fisheries protection etc - to companies outside the State.

This debate is taking place at a time when Irish small and medium-sized enterprises are desperately in need of stimulus and support. The SME sector employs 250,000 people in areas of the Irish economy like the service and construction industries. I ask the Government to give the House a progress report on what it has been doing to make it easier for Irish companies to compete in domestic tender competitions. What has it been doing to prepare and train Irish companies to compete for contracts in other parts of Europe? I am primarily concerned that we facilitate companies that may seek public contracts in Ireland. Even in these difficult times, significant amounts of money are being spent on public contracts. I want to be told it has become simpler and cheaper for companies to participate in tendering processes. Until recently, Irish SMEs could not enter the tendering process in many cases because it cost so much to do so and they had no certainty of success. At the moment, companies cannot borrow money to put contracts in place without some certainty of success.

I ask the Minister of State to assure the House that no charge is imposed on companies that tender for the vast majority of public contracts. I want to know that where appropriate, State agencies are required to send officials to meet people who are tendering for business. The officials should give them guidance, where possible, and ensure they are competing. I want reassurance that Enterprise Ireland is helping to support and prepare Irish companies, to ensure they are as competitive as they should be and to increase the percentage of public procurement business obtained by such companies. Do we have an import substitution strategy for replacing the amount of work that is being done in Ireland by foreign companies with Irish companies, when and where appropriate? I am not satisfied that is happening. Small businesses, companies and entrepreneurs in Ireland are going out of business at a time when large contracts are being successfully completed by large multinationals based out of Ireland, even though Irish SMEs have the skill set necessary to do the job.

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