Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to hear that Deputy McDonald hopes to attend the Meet the Buyer event. I have made a point of inviting every Member of the Oireachtas to the event and if the Deputy is not in a position to attend there will be more events. It is very important to allow an opportunity for SMEs to interact first-hand with the public service buyers and for us as policy-makers to see that interaction, to see what is working and what is not working.

I accept Deputy McDonald's constructive criticism about consortia; it is a criticism I have heard from the representative bodies.

I refer again to the consultation process which will provide an opportunity to look at what is working and what is not working, to look at what we want to achieve from these directives. All too often EU directives can be regarded as negative or challenging measures but in my view we must seize them as an opportunity. The Deputy correctly said that we are looking at upskilling SMEs by providing training sessions so that they are ready to engage in procurement. It is in the interests of the entire Irish economy that we get more SMEs availing of and winning public procurement contracts.

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