Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 298: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will detail any increase in the number of small and medium enterprise winning Government procurement contracts. [21374/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Public procurement affords an opportunity for SMEs to secure new business and grow employment; approximately €14 billion will be spent by public bodies this year in purchasing goods and services. The Government is keen to ensure that SMEs have access to procurement opportunities and the Action Plan for Jobs contains a number of measures designed to improve SME access to those opportunities. These include:

- ensuring that pre-qualification criteria (e.g. turnover, insurance thresholds, experience) for public procurement contracts are proportionate,

- the assignment by Enterprise Ireland of advisors and mentors to help client companies prepare better for public procurement opportunities, and

- encouraging more SMEs to register on the Government's eTenders website to enable forthcoming procurement opportunities to be brought to their attention.

The impact of these actions will be measured over time.

The number of companies currently registered on the eTenders website stands at over 72,000. Approximately 90% of these are SMEs. I understand that the National Procurement Service is currently evaluating tenders for an upgraded eTenders website, which will include a facility to generate reports giving details of contracts awarded. Ultimately, however, the award of a contract to any particular company is a matter for the procuring authority in question, having regard to the content of the tenders received and the criteria under which they are assessed.