Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is essential that there is not just an advisory service for small and medium-sized enterprises and microbusinesses in respect of these tenders, but that there is also an effective complaints mechanism. Such a mechanism should give a result to complainants and not just tea and sympathy. The Minister is familiar with many consistently raised issues that are of a general nature, yet also apply specifically to individual contracts. The prioritisation of the lowest price above wider social and economic benefits is one such issue. The idea of consortium bidding, which flies in the face of how most SMEs and microbusinesses operate, has also been raised time and again. There is a lack of consistency between contracting bodies, for instance in marking criteria. These are general themes and dilemmas that emerge repeatedly and have to be addressed. I wonder if there is confidence in the Tender Advisory Service actually to deal with those issues. The Minister says a number of queries were deemed to be ineligible because they were general. That does not mean they are not worthy, important and in need of investigation and remedy.

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