Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 January 2013
17. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if social clauses will be added to public procurement contracts specifically targeting youth and long term unemployment. [3066/13]
View answer35. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will include social clauses in all public procurement contracts for supplies, services and construction, clauses designed to tackle disadvantage through bringing young unemployed persons in particular into work. [3064/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 35 together.
The matter of social clauses in public contracts is something that I have been examining closely recently.
Social clauses can be used in public procurement in cases where they are targeted at factoring into the procurement process consideration of social issues such as employment opportunities, equal opportunities and social inclusion. In order to be compatible with EU law, they must be made known to all interested parties and must not restrict participation by contractors from other Member States.
The European Commission issued guidance in 2010 that identified a range of social considerations that could be relevant for procurement including promoting employment opportunities for young unemployed or long-term unemployed and promoting compliance with core labour standards. This guidance stressed that when incorporating social considerations into the procurement process one of the key challenges is ensuring compliance with the EU Treaty Principles and the Procurement Directives. The EU procurement directive primarily envisages that social considerations may be included as contract performance conditions, provided they are not discriminatory and are included in the contract notice or in the contract documents and relate to the performance of the contract. For example, the EU Directive states that contract performance conditions may be intended to favour on-site vocational training, the employment of people experiencing particular difficulty in achieving integration, the fight against unemployment or the protection of the environment.
Challenges arise from the need to ensure that: value for money is not adversely affected; additional costs are not placed on domestic suppliers relative to other potential suppliers; and the targeted benefit is capable of being measured and monitored during execution of the contract.
The inclusion of social clauses in the procurement process would appear to be most suited to situations where the social benefit could be considered a core requirement and can be directly linked to the contracting authority’s policy or strategic plan. Experience in other Member States, would also indicate that social clauses will tend to be used for services and works contracts rather than supply contracts. A further consideration is the ability of contracting authorities to effectively monitor compliance with the social clause; this may be more difficult where some of the work is to be performed in another Member State.
The Government has a wide range of measures that it is deploying to facilitate job creation and support labour activation, with particular emphasis on assisting the long term unemployed people. Obviously, the main purpose of the public procurement process is to ensure that goods, services and works are purchased by the State in a manner that is legal, transparent and of high probity, and our key requirement is the achievement of value for money. Within this context, I have been looking with the Department and the National Procurement Service to see whether the use of social clauses as an additional means of supporting activation and we are seeking to identify the scope for the use of social clauses in parts of the capital area in particular.
