Written answers

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Public Procurement Contracts

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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256. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress to assist Irish small and medium enterprises in their bids for procurement contracts, at home and abroad, in view of the benefits such contracts have for local economies. [9332/15]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government acknowledges the significant role that SMEs play in the Irish economy and is committed to ensuring that SMEs are fully engaged with public sector procurement and the opportunities presenting.

Policy responsibility for public procurement is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, T.D and the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) falls under Minister Howlin’s remit.

My Department’s officials are closely involved in supporting SMEs’ access to procurement through their involvement in a number of interdepartmental groups chaired by the OGP, including the High Level Group on SME Access to Procurement, the Social Clauses Project Group and the SME Working Group.

The SME Working Group also includes representatives from ISME, IBEC, Inter Trade Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Small Firms Association and Chambers Ireland. This group will continue to be a key mechanism for engaging with SME representative bodies and identifying further measures to improve access to public sector procurement opportunities.

The 2015 Action Plan for Jobs includes a number of measures to support SMEs to access public procurement opportunities to be delivered by a number of public sector bodies. In particular, Enterprise Ireland (EI) and InterTradeIreland, which come under the remit of my Department, are delivering a number of APJ actions, which will build on their work to date in increasing SME awareness of public procurement opportunities. EI will provide support to Irish companies seeking to participate in procurement overseas through engagements for SMEs with International Financial Institutions. IntertradeIreland will continue to grow the capacity and capability of Irish enterprises to successfully tender for public procurement contracts, through the continued delivery of “Go-2-Tender”, “Advanced Go-2-Tender” and consortia building initiatives and “Meet the Buyer” events, run in conjunction with the OGP, as outlined below.

Furthermore, EI and IntertradeIreland will also examine ways of improving the supply of innovative products and services, where appropriate, in public procurement including assessing innovation practices in public procurement in other countries with a view to establishing potential learnings for Ireland.

Under the APJ process, the OGP has conducted a targeted programme of education for suppliers who wish to learn more about doing business with the Irish Public Service. This programme consists of seminars, workshops and large scale 'Meet the Buyer' events hosted nationwide. These 'Meet the Buyer' events are run in conjunction with EI and InterTrade-Ireland. To date the OGP has facilitated workshops and presented at seminars to over 4,500 SMEs nationwide. These events afforded suppliers an opportunity to meet and discuss the issues with public service buyers and provide networking opportunities for suppliers and encourage consortia-building.

The OGP also reviewed and updated its guidelines and procedures aimed at promoting SME participation in public procurement. Circular 10/14, launched on 17 April 2014, sets out new initiatives aimed at opening up opportunities for small businesses to bid for State business. These new guidelines are aimed at reducing the administrative burden on businesses that want to tender for public contracts. The SME Working Group, established under the Government's Action Plan for Jobs, was consulted on the new Guidelines and the Circular and it has been broadly welcomed by industry representative associations.

It is also important to remember that open tendering is a two way street and that it provides Irish companies with opportunities to compete abroad. The public procurement market in the EU is estimated to be valued in excess of €2.4 trillion. The open market regime offers opportunities for Irish companies to win business abroad and reliable EU studies indicate that many Irish businesses are successful in this regard.

The reform of public procurement across the public service is on-going and will continue to provide opportunities to the SME sector to win business. My Department will continue to work with the Office of Government Procurement and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the supports are in place to assist SMEs in building their capacity to access public procurement opportunities both here and abroad.

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