Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The procurement innovation group's report and the accompanying 10 Step Guide to Smart Procurement and SME Access to Public Contracts were both published in July 2009. Some of the recommendations were incorporated subsequently into the Department of Finance's current guidelines to public contracting authorities which are designed to ensure tendering processes operate in a manner that facilitates increased participation by SMEs. These include the lowering, from €50,000 to €25,000, of the estimated value of contracts to be advertised on the e-tenders website, the splitting of larger contracts into lots, and the communication by contracting authorities of future procurement plans by issuing prior information notices. None the less, it is clear that more effort must be made to ensure the guidelines are applied by procurement officers in contracting authorities, and work is under way to ensure this is happening.

The action plan for jobs contains a number of specific measures designed to facilitate an increase in SME participation in the tendering process, and my Department is working collaboratively with key players such as the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the National Procurement Service, NPS, Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland to deliver the commitments as set out in the action plan.

In addition, the Department chairs a steering group bringing together the main stakeholders in this area. Under the aegis of the steering group, Enterprise Ireland, the National Procurement Service and InterTradeIreland are working on a number of initiatives to boost SME participation in the public procurement process, including, for example, the establishment by Enterprise Ireland of clusters of SMEs to work with contracting authorities develop innovative supply chain solutions. The aim is to establish a level playing field in the area of public procurement to facilitate increased SME participation.

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