John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Last July, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, established a steering group on SME access to public procurement, to examine what more can be done to improve SME participation in tendering for public contracts. The steering group comprises the key players in the public procurement arena, including the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the National Procurement Service, Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, and the Department. It is tasked with identifying the failings in the current system and driving changes that will further open up the process and provide a level playing field for SMEs.

The group is examining concerns from the SME sector which points out the procurement process has been shown to impose unnecessary or disproportionate obligations on tendering companies that can see them fail at the first hurdle, when a more pragmatic approach on the part of the contracting authority might allow an experienced company to tender. Sometimes the tendering companies are disqualified on the basis of a very rigid application of criteria, with little hope of having the buyer's decision overturned. Indeed, no formal appeals mechanism is in place in the public procurement system, although this is now being addressed.

The high level group on business regulation, which I chair, has also been examining barriers - of which there are many - to participation by SMEs in public procurement and has provided direct input from the SME sector to the deliberations of the steering group.

On receipt of the steering group's initial report, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, asked my officials to develop a number of actions for implementation which could improve SME access to procurement in the short term. These include the identification of specific areas in the public procurement guidelines which continue to present difficulties for SMEs, the strengthening of Enterprise Ireland's engagement with procuring authorities, and the identification of areas where collaboration between tier 1 principal contractors and pre-qualified tier 2 SMEs could be developed in the procurement process.

Initiatives already in place to help SMEs get more opportunities in public procurement include guidelines from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for procurement with practical suggestions and a ten step guide, a dedicated procurement team in Enterprise Ireland, the website www.procurement.ie and a standardised suite of procurement documents. I hope these allay concerns.

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