Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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31. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if all provisions from EU directives pertaining to increasing the share of public procurement contracts by small and medium-sized enterprises have been implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22785/16]

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.

The New 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;

- 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%;

- 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 Office of Government Procurement (OGP).  It should be pointed out that a number of these measures had already been accelerated into policy in Ireland by way of Circular 10/14 which issued in April 2014 and which was broadly welcomed by the SME representative bodies at the time.

The Government recognises the importance of the SME Sector to the economy.In this regard, my colleague, Minister of State Eoghan Murphy, chairs the SME Advisory Group. The SME Advisory Group includes representatives from ISME, IBEC, CIF, the Small Firms Association, Chambers Ireland, InterTrade Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and the OGP and seeks to develop additional measures to support SMEs in accessing the public procurement market.  The OGP continues to engage with industry to ensure that winning Government business is done in a fair, open and transparent manner and that government procurement policies are business friendly.