Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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It is important that SMEs are aware of the opportunities and are ready to compete for public procurement contracts in Ireland and abroad and I would encourage those businesses to make themselves aware of how they might do that.

The Local Enterprise Offices offer courses for businesses on accessing public procurement including courses such as 'Winning Business through Tenders' and 'A Step by Step Guide to E-Tenders and Public Procurement'. 185 participants have availed of LEO public procurement training courses to date in 2023. Enterprise Ireland also makes LEOs aware of their 'Meet the Buyer' events. The Local Enterprise Office Network have also advertised changes to the eTenders platform on the LEO website and kept businesses informed of what they need to do to avail of opportunities to sell to government.

Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland offer a joint agency programme called Global Sourcing which aims to build supply chain connections between multinationals in Ireland and the supply base of Irish companies with products and services which underpin the operational excellence and efficiency of overseas owned companies in Ireland. To facilitate engagement between Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland client companies, the Global Sourcing team set up and host events which bring buyers and suppliers together.

These events give potential suppliers an opportunity to hear from Senior Management and Experts at Large Multinational Enterprises regarding their strategies for delivering significant projects as well as opportunities to hold one to one meetings with these potential buyers.

InterTradeIreland offers the Go-2-Tender programme, which provides training workshops and follow up mentoring support packages. The training consists of two half day workshops covering how the Public Procurement landscape on the island works. The workshops are followed by individualised mentoring support packages. Companies can avail of up to nine days of direct mentoring guidance and support which can be used to improve their tendering capability in ways best suited to each company’s individual needs.

In terms of general skills, my Department launched Skills for Better Business in November 2022 to help SME owners and managers to assess their own management skills and identify the right education and training to improve their management and leadership capabilities. All SME owners and managers are encouraged to visit skillsforbetterbusiness.gov.ieand take the assessment themselves.