Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. SMEs are the lifeblood of our country. It has been said before that if every SME were to hire one person it would put a huge dent in our dole queues.

Is the Minister happy that the office is functioning to the best of its ability? There is concern that saving money on procurement may inadvertently cost jobs in the SMEs which lose out. I welcome circular 10/14 which contains many welcome initiatives, including sub-division into lots, the use of consortia and the use of e-tenders for contracts of under €25,000.

Does the office report on the savings in each Department? Are annual reports published to show the savings as the office tries to meet the target of the €500 million savings between now and 2016?

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