Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. It is in this morning's Irish Mirrorand I recommend that the Minister of State look at it. It sends a very bad signal as people are still struggling. We have discussed the shortage of money for section 39 organisations but in some sections of the State there is a level of extravagance.

I acknowledge the work being done by the Minister of State and his office in "demystifying" procurement. What complaints procedures are in place and are the complaints procedures around procurement demystified for people who want feedback on why they failed or lost a contract? What is the Department doing to ensure small businesses can access Government procurement? I have quoted the case before of libraries - I know this relates to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government - that buy their books centrally. This inhibits small, independent publishers from getting access to local libraries because of the manner in which procurement in libraries is done. There are countless examples of small and niche businesses being excluded from Government procurement because of the way rules are applied. What is their avenue for getting involved with procurement and complaints?

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