Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2015
18. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the consideration he has given to the inclusion of a social clause in capital public procurement projects to the value of €1 million or more. [33411/15]
View answerThe Government supports the use of social clauses in a manner which can address issues such as social exclusion, long term unemployment or provide enhanced opportunities through the provision of training.
Whilst the Government is convinced of the merit in using social clauses in particular circumstances, it is important that contracting authorities are not compelled to use them on every contract particularly where their deployment may disproportionately impact on SME's bidding for public contracts. They are used to best effect in a targeted fashion to tackle the identified causes of inequity or deprivation.
In order to ensure that social clauses do not discriminate, it is best to use general categories of beneficiary (e.g. long-term unemployed, trainees, young people) and then target the social benefits through 'supply-side' activities (e.g. training and job-matching services). Targeted social clauses are likely to be most effective in cases where they are actively supported by supply-side actions and by good monitoring and evaluation processes taken by the Department or Agency with the relevant policy remit. The inclusion of social clauses represents additional costs to the State and suppliers in meeting the requirements and demonstrating and verifying compliance. It is imperative that such provisions
- are enforced and independently verified;
- do not adversely affect value for money;
- do not place additional costs on domestic suppliers relative to other potential suppliers, and;
- are only applied to contracts of a minimum scale so that they do not disadvantage SMEs.
Unemployment in the construction sector increased since the economic crisis first hit mirroring the decline in activity. In response, Government set out a range of actions in Construction 2020 aimed at increasing activity and has introduced a number of stimulus packages to increase activity and employment in the sector. Social clauses are included in the various contracts that are awarded under the PPP element of the €2.25bn package announced in July 2012. These clauses require a minimum percentage of the time required to deliver the contract to be undertaken by those recruited from the ranks of the long term unemployed and apprentices.
The operation of this clause has already been successfully piloted and local Intreo offices have worked closely with the appointed contractors to support the pilot initiative.
The OGP is currently developing guidance for my consideration in including social clauses more broadly in tender and contract documentation.
