Written answers

Thursday, 5 May 2011

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation

Public Procurement

5:00 pm

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 26: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he has received the report and data from the National Procurement Service in relation to public procurement here, in particular in relation to quantifying the numbers of contracts which are being competed for, and won by, small and medium enterprise; the date on which the NPS will carry out surveys to ascertain the success rate of SMEs which apply for public contracts, and to identify some of the issues which may be a barrier to winning such contracts; the date on which the NPS will report on this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10021/11]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As I outlined in a recent reply to a question put down by the Deputy (Question No. 51 of 29 March 2011, Ref. No. 5870/11), responsibility for public procurement policy is a matter for the Minister for Finance. However, my Department has a particular interest in this area because of the potential for SMEs to win a share of the public procurement market which is valued in the region of €14 billion per annum in Ireland.

I explained that my Department had engaged with the National Procurement Service (NPS) - a Business Unit of the Office of Public Works - in relation to the availability of data on the number of contracts which are being competed for, and won by, SMEs. This data is not currently captured on the NPS's public tendering website, but the NPS agreed to work with my Department to capture this type of data in future as part of a forthcoming upgrade to the portal.

I understand that the NPS is currently evaluating tenders received for the replacement of the portal and that the upgraded website is expected to be operational in the third quarter of this year. It is likely that the new system will be able to capture additional data on the profile of successful tenderers.

As part of its engagement with my Department, the NPS also agreed to carry out surveys in the coming months to further help to ascertain the success rate of SMEs which apply for public contracts, and to identify some of the issues which may be a barrier to them winning such contracts.

My Department along with Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with the NPS over the coming months to provide an input to these surveys and to agree a suitable timeframe for their completion. It will be important to ensure that the opportunity is provided to as many SMEs as possible to provide an input to the survey to identify comprehensive patterns and trends.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.