Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to this very important Bill and thank Deputy Frank O'Rourke for bringing it before the Dáil.

Following an initial period of fear in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, small business owners in Ireland are entering an extremely uncertain cycle. Considering that more than 900,000 people are employed nationally in SMEs, every support and incentive must be given to sustain job creators. This is a crucial time in promoting investment and growth among start-ups and small industries. SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy and without easy access to credit and State contracts and tenders to support business, we risk cutting off the oxygen that sustains and grows the indigenous sector.

International research shows that developing a strong SME base will increase competition in public procurement which, in turn, will provide the Government with better value for money and increase efficiency in public procurement. The bottom line is that the national procurement system must be designed with a long-term vision and from a "think small first" perspective, a concept recommended by the European Union. This legislation will assist in increasing the number of jobs and the profitability of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, as well as delivering additional value for money and social value for the economy and society. The Government has failed to introduce such legislation which has resulted in the loss of potentially thousands of local jobs in the SME sector. By failing to introduce this type of legislation, the Government is undermining SMEs which have been left disadvantaged by different tendering rules from those of their EU counterparts.

Most European countries have introduced social clauses to enable the state to allocate jobs to the local unemployed or take on local apprentices to undertake contracted work. This is a challenging period for small and medium-sized business owners as they face uncertainty in the marketplace. Small, medium-sized and micro businesses properly nurtured, cleverly supported and carefully encouraged will generally grow to become businesses that create, expand and employ. The legislation will require public bodies to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public service contracts being put out to tender that have the potential to increase the number of jobs and profitability in the SME sector. The SME sector is the backbone of the economy and measures such as these will encourage enterprise and start-ups to create jobs. The €12 billion the State spends each year on goods and services generates a significant amount of business. While it is not always possible to award contracts to Irish companies, the objective of the Bill is to achieve a level playing field.

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