Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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244. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has satisfied himself with the guidelines available to SMEs to access State procurement contracts. [34712/17]

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 the best value for money.  It would be a breach of the EU rules for a public body to favour particular candidates on grounds such as organisation size, locality, nationality, etc. and there are legal remedies which may be used against any public body infringing these rules.  

Guidance in relation to facilitating SMEs participation in Public Procurement is contained in the National Policy Framework of the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) which consists of five strands:

- legislation (Directives, Regulations)

- policy (Circulars etc.)

- the Capital Works Management Framework

- General Procurement Guidelines

- more detailed technical guidelines, template documents and notes issued periodically by the Policy Unit of the Office of Government Procurement (OGP)

The main policy document in the area of measures to support SME access to public procurement is contained within Circular 10/14 which was issued by my Department in April 2014.  This sets out positive measures that contracting authorities should take to promote the involvement of smaller enterprises and highlights practices that are to be avoided which may hinder small businesses in competing for public contracts.

The main initiatives set out in the circular are as follows:

- buyers are advised to undertake  market analysis prior to tendering in order to better understand the range of goods and services on offer, the competitive landscape, including the specific capabilities of SMEs, etc.

- the circular promotes transparency in procurement by requiring supplies and general services contracts with an estimated value of €25,000 to be advertised on the Government's electronic tendering portal, e-Tenders;

- it encourages suppliers  including SMEs to fully use e-Tenders and avail of its facilities in relation to registration, e-tendering and automatic alerts in relation to  future tendering opportunities;

- buyers are encouraged not to set turnover thresholds at more than twice the estimated contract value and the circular puts limits on insurance levels for suppliers where possible;

- it promotes greater use of  "open" tendering and less use of "restrictive" tendering ;

- it  encourages SMEs to  consider using consortia where they are not of sufficient scale to tender in their own right or where they may lack certain capabilities necessary to provide a compelling proposition; and,

- it encourages Contracting Authorities to break large contracts down into lots where reasonable to do  so and where it does not expose the State to undue risk or significant management overheads.

SME participation in public procurement is also addressed through an SME Advisory Group which the OGP established for this purpose. This meets on a quarterly basis.  It includes representatives from the Department of Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland (EI), InterTrade Ireland (ITI), the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC), the Small Firms Association (SFA), the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Chambers Ireland and the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME).  It is chaired at Minister of State level in line with the Programme for Government.  

The OGP will be considering appropriate refinements to enhance the significant measures already in place to support SME access. These will take account of the lessons learned to date in the procurement reform programme as well as feedback received through the SME Advisory Group and regional briefings.