John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is considering the use of social clauses in all public procurement contracts in his Department; and if he will consider including a quota to employ jobseekers who are long-term unemployed. [4698/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The scope for including social considerations in public contracts is something that I have been examining closely recently. In this regard, I would refer the Deputy to my recent reply on this issue (PQ 3066/13 - answered 23/01/13).

The range of social considerations that could be relevant for procurement includes promoting employment opportunities for young unemployed or long-term unemployed and promoting compliance with core labour standards. In this regard the standard template contracts issued by the National Procurement Service (NPS) in 2012 include provisions requiring compliance by the contractor with employment legislation. The standard public works contracts include provisions to ensure that the rates of pay and the conditions of employment, comply with all applicable law and that those rates and conditions are at least as favourable as those for the relevant category of worker in any registered employment agreements.

The inclusion of a social clause in all public procurement contracts requiring that a quota of long-term unemployed be employed in the delivery of the contract poses a number of risks. In the current economic climate, it would be quite likely that where a business is awarded a public contract, in particular a small-scale contract, the work would be carried out by the existing employees of that business. In such circumstances a social clause requiring that a number of long-term unemployed be employed in delivering a public contract could either impose an additional cost on SMEs that they may not be able to afford, or result in the displacement of existing employees. Challenges also arise from the need to ensure that the benefits are capable of being measured and monitored during the performance of the contract and that additional costs are not placed on local suppliers relative to other potential suppliers.

The Government has a wide range of measures that it is deploying to facilitate job creation and support labour activation, with particular emphasis on assisting the long term unemployed people. Obviously, the main purpose of the public procurement process is to ensure that goods, services and works are purchased by the State in a manner that is legal, transparent and of high probity, and our key requirement is the achievement of value for money. Within this context my Department and the National Procurement Service are in the process of examining the use of social clauses as an additional means of supporting activation. In light of the risks noted above, we are seeking to identify the scope for the use of social clauses in parts of the capital area in particular, where employers are likely to be hiring additional workers to perform the contracts.