Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. He is right to suggest the issue of procurement falls under my responsibility. The national procurement service is part of the Office of Public Works. Since its establishment in 2009, the service has done a tremendous job to ensure that we get better procurement throughout the public sector. The truth is that far too many people are procuring in Ireland. There are too many localised arrangements and there is not enough focus on cost and efficiency. If we are to reach our 3% deficit target by 2015 it will not only involve slashing budgets and new taxes. It is also about procuring better and ensuring that we get better value for money. I am keen to ensure that as many Irish SMEs as possible win these contracts. We are at one on that point.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform circular 10/10, introduced by the previous Government, has done several important things. Previously, any contract of €50,000 or less was not advertised on the e-tenders portal. Now, every contract of €25,000 or less is advertised. The big problem facing Irish SMEs is that they are not all registered on the e-tenders portal. How can they bid for something unless they know about it? I wish to use the opportunity of the debate on the issue put forward by Deputy Wall to encourage the SME sector to register with us. All public procurement must go through the e-tenders portal so that we know exactly what is on offer. Circular 10/10 sought to get rid of the restrictive tendering processes through greater use of open tendering and this is very important for small Irish businesses. In the circular we asked people to be proportionate and not to be overly burdensome when it comes to insurance and turnover requirements for SMEs. It is crazy, as far as I am concerned, to say to an Irish SME that it needs a massive amount of insurance before it gets a job, and we will reform that even further.

The fourth matter is trying to subdivide much of the work so that Irish SMEs can get more of the opportunities available. This is a multi-billion euro business. Throughout the Irish public sector, in excess of €16 billion was spent last year on goods and services. It is a great opportunity for new employment.

Fifth, in Circular 10/10, we want SMEs to come together to ensure they could pitch for some of this business. Deputy Wall referred to the managed print framework contract - I apologise I am not reading from my script, which the Deputy should not mind as the speech is the important matter. Six companies were selected in that centralised procurement framework and three of those companies were Irish SMEs that won that framework. My point is that if the Irish SME sector gets its act together, realises what we need from it in terms of better tendering and ensures that it is up to speed on the requirements under Circular 10/10, there is no reason they cannot win this business.

Some 85% of contracts under public sector procurement in this country are won by Irish SMEs. I want more of them to be won by them. Despite the headlines one sometimes reads, 95% of all the money we spend in this area is retained in this country. It is my ambition - I say it unapologetically - to get more Irish SMEs winning more of this. They are already doing very well. I want them to get the biggest possible share of the market that they can get.

However, we also must drive price. We must get the best value for the Irish taxpayer. We must ensure the savings we make are all part of the national effort to balance our books and get the country's expenditure and taxes on an even keel. For too long, this issue was not taken seriously. Better public procurement, more central procurement and a much more professional focus on procurement across the system can deliver that change.

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