Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Public Services and Procurement (Social Value) Bill 2015 which will require public bodies to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public service contracts and related matters.

This is a perfect example of an opportunity for the Government to put indigenous industry on a par with multinationals and foreign direct investment. Everything is done to facilitate multinationals to come into the country while SMEs and indigenous industries are not given the same momentum. There has to be a balance with our SMEs getting the same taxation benefits and other measures as multinationals get. As Senator Hayden said, SMEs are in every part of the country while multinationals want to locate only in large urban environments.

Fianna Fáil has brought forward this legislation to ensure Irish SMEs have a level playing field with their European counterparts in successfully bidding for public procurement contracts which provide significant social benefits. Successive Governments, including Fianna Fáil Administrations, have failed to introduce such legislation resulting in the loss of potentially thousands of local jobs in the SME sector. Every year the State tenders for over €8.5 billion worth of goods and services. Ireland, unlike many EU countries, focuses on the lowest tender price, offered with no consideration to the social impact certain tenders of a higher cost may have. Most European countries have introduced social clauses to allow the State chose offers which may not be the lowest in cost but would have significant social benefit for the local and regional area such as allocating jobs to the local unemployed or taking on local apprentices for contracted work. By failing to introduce this type of legislation, successive Governments have undermined indigenous industries by not putting them on the same par as foreign direct investment, leaving them disadvantaged by different tendering rules to those in other EU member states.France is a particular example. It is gung-ho and very nationalistic about contracts, as Senator Darragh O'Brien said in referring to how the police force used Citroën cars, although I do not know whether the Citroën cars are good, bad or indifferent. We have not worn the green jersey on this issue and all Governments have failed to do so.

Fianna Fáil's legislation would require public bodies to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being when public service contracts were being put out to tender. This would level the playing field for small and medium Irish businesses when competing with their European counterparts and have the potential to increase the number of jobs in and the profitability of the Irish SME sector.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris continued success. He is doing a great job and doing brilliantly for such a young man.