Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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274. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of quarterly meetings of the SME advisory group facilitated in 2016 by the Government; and the number of meetings chaired by a Minister. [40837/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The SME Advisory (Working) Group was established to address issues affecting SME participation in public procurement and to ensure that the voice of Irish SMEs can be heard by Government and the Office of Government Procurement. The Working Group consists of officials from the Office of Government Procurement, Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland. SMEs are represented by industry representative groups such as the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC), the Small Firms Association (SFA), the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Chambers Ireland and the Irish Small and Median Enterprises Association (ISME). This Group is chaired by Minister of State Murphy in accordance with the Programme for Government and meets on a quarterly basis. Minister Murphy chaired the meetings of the Group on the 11th July and 27th October of 2016. Further meetings will take place on a quarterly basis in 2017.