Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the report from the Office of Government Procurement into the use of social clauses in public contracts, particularly regarding the issuing of guidelines to local authorities in order to provide them with the ability to insert social clauses in local contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7328/16]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government is keen to explore the scope for including social clauses in public contracts were they are suited to the objective of the contract and therefore would have the greatest impact.  In this context, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) is examining social clauses with a view to assessing where they can be deployed to contribute to employment or training opportunities for long term unemployed.  The purpose of this work is to:

- the provision of general guidance: and,

- identification of suitable contract clauses developed in conjunction with the Chief State Solicitor's Office;

It is important to adopt a targeted approach to the use of social clauses in contracts where employers are likely to be hiring additional workers to deliver the contract.  This is likely to mitigate the risk of displacing workers already in employment while offering the opportunity of assisting with labour activation measures for the long-term unemployed.

Two examples of this approach currently in progress are the Grangegorman Development and Devolved Schools Build Programme.  In relation to the latter, a clause has been included in the Public Works contracts which require that

- 10% of the aggregate time worked on site to have been undertaken by individuals who have been registered on a national unemployment register within the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months immediately prior to their employment on the project.

- 2.5% of the aggregate time worked on site to have been undertaken by individuals who are employed under a registered scheme of apprenticeship or other similar national, accredited training or educational work placement arrangement.

Experience of this pilot have been positive. It is important to learn from such practical experience of where community benefit clauses are utilised. This is a complex area. It is important to develop a robust structure that will assist the contracting authority to develop the correct clause and to provide the support from the appropriate agency to aid the company in implementing the clause. I have instructed the OGP to issue practical guidance designed to assist Contracting Authorities to carry out this important role in a consistent manner. I expect that this guidance to issue shortly after the transpostion of the new public procurement Directives.