Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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149. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when he plans to publish the report of the independent external review of the tender advisory service of the Office of Government Procurement initiated in 2016. [12473/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Tender Advisory Service (TAS), launched in December 2014, provides an informal outlet for potential suppliers to raise concerns in relation to live tender processes. The service became operational in February 2015 and is managed by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). TAS liaises with potential suppliers and contracting authorities to clarify or query tender documentation and, where necessary, makes suggestions to contracting authorities aimed at resolving the concerns that have been raised

An internal review of TAS was conducted by the OGP after the first year of operation of the service.  The review was published in 2016 and concluded by recommending that the service should be continued for another year and efforts should be made to increase awareness amongst both suppliers and buyers.

An external review, as provided for in the Programme for Government, was carried out in 2017 and the final report was submitted to and discussed with the SME Advisory Group in December 2017.

This group is chaired, in accordance with the Programme for Government, by my colleague Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan and meets quarterly to discuss issues relating to SME access to public procurement. The membership of the group consists of officials from the OGP, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), Enterprise Ireland (EI), InterTrade Ireland (ITI), the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), as well as representatives from the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC), the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), the Small Firms Association (SFA), the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and Chambers Ireland.

The OGP has received feedback from the SME Advisory Group on the recommendations contained in the report and are currently considering modifications to the service, to take on board the findings of the report and SME Representative Bodies’ feedback. The OGP expect to publish the external report on TAS alongside the re-launch of the service in April 2018.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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150. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason the SME working group of the Office of Government Procurement has not met since February 2017. [12474/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The SME Working (Advisory) group, chaired by my colleague, Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan, meets on a quarterly basis in accordance with the Programme for Government, so that the voice of Irish SMEs can be heard by Government and the Office of Government Procurement (OGP).  

In 2017, the group met in February, May, September and December. The first meeting of 2018 was earlier this month on 8 March and further meetings are planned throughout 2018.  The group, containing representatives from the public sector and business representative bodies, has been working to further promote SME participation in the public procurement process.

The membership of the group consists of officials from the OGP, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), Enterprise Ireland (EI), InterTrade Ireland (ITI), the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), as well as representatives from the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC), the Small Firms Association (SFA), the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) and Chambers Ireland.