Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if, under EU procurement regulations, Irish SMEs will be precluded from tendering for public contracts, which they have been successfully carrying out efficiently and effectively for many years (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29452/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Public Procurement is governed by EU and National rules. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money.  It would be a breach of the EU rules for a public body to favour or discriminate against particular candidates on grounds such as nationality, organisational size, etc. and there are legal remedies which may be used against any public body infringing these rules.

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.  In this regard and in accordance with the Programme for Government, my colleague, Minister of State Eoghan Murphy chairs the SME Advisory Group, a group consisting of industry representatives of the SME Sector including ISME, IBEC, SFA, Chambers Ireland, and CIF and as well as relevant State Bodies such as the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, InterTrade Ireland and Enterprise Ireland and the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). It should also be noted that the OGP's "" which was launched by Minister of State Murphy last month indicated that the majority of the spend analysed is with SMEs and equally important, in terms of SME access to government business, is the report's highlighting that, in the majority of spend areas, the typical tender value is less €100,000.

There is a recognition at EU level of the need to promote and facilitate SME participation in public procurement.  The EU Directives on Procurement are intended to make it easier for businesses and SMEs to tender for public sector procurement contracts.  Specific measures aimed at facilitating SME participation in public procurement include the following:

- financial capacity criterion is now less demanding; it is generally limited to twice contract value;

- electronic methods of communication is now mandated in parts of the award process;

- the use of a self-declaration European Single Procurement Document by suppliers is introduced to reduce red tape;

- there is the discretion to divide public contracts into lots, with the proviso that opting not to divide a contract into lots must be explained in  the procurement documents;

- there is a provision for "consortia bidding" to encourage SME involvement;

- there is explicit provision for prior discussion with suppliers and independent experts, with safeguards against distorting competition or violating transparency and non-discrimination principles;

- there are reductions in the time limits for receipt of tenders by 30%; and

- Member States are required to report back to the Commission every 3 years on SME participation in public procurement.

These measures were transposed into Irish law in May of this year by the OGP.  DPER Circular 10/14: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement which issued in April 2014 had accelerated a number of these measures into public policy.

The OGP will continue to engage and work with the SME industry to ensure that winning government business is done in a fair, transparent and accessible way and to ensure that government procurement policies are business friendly.