Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his assessment of the potential savings that can be made through an all-Island approach to the procurement and tendering for the supply of Government goods and services. [36814/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As part of the Public Service Reform Plan, my Department is examining ways to improve collaborative procurement arrangements across the public service. Where feasible such arrangements could include an all-island approach to procuring certain commonly acquired goods and services. The development of an increased supplier base on an all-island basis has the potential to deliver procurement savings from increased competition. In this regard, the main procurement and development bodies on the island, with ministerial support, are assisting the SME sector in accessing the all-island €20bn public procurement market. Such assistance includes the hosting of "Meet-the-Buyer" events by Intertrade Ireland, along with the National Procurement Service, Enterprise Ireland and their counterparts in Northern Ireland, the Central Procurement Directorate, the Strategic Investment Board and Invest Northern Ireland. These workshops, two of which have already been held, in November 2011 in Dundalk and May 2012 in Athlone, have been successful in attracting small and medium-sized enterprises, with over 400 SMEs attending the Athlone event. These events are targeted at fostering increased SME participation in tendering for public goods and service contracts. Two further workshops will take place this year in Cookstown in September and Kilkenny in November.