Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 November 2015
24. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the indicators that exist to measure the participation of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement; if there are targets for the participation of these enterprises in public procurement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40612/15]
View answerPublic 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 best value for money. It would be a breach of the EU rules for a public body to favour or discriminate against particular candidates on grounds such as nationality, organisational size, etc. and there are legal remedies which may be used against any public body infringing these rules.
Earlier this year the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) published a report on 2013 spend and tendering activity from 64 large public service bodies. The report titled "Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis for 2013" contained positive news for Irish businesses and SMEs. The EU definition of a SME was used in this analysis. The spend data that was analysed indicates:
- 93% of public service expenditure is with businesses in the Republic of Ireland
- 66% of public service expenditure is with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
The Government acknowledges the significant role that SMEs play in the Irish economy and is committed to ensuring that SMEs are fully engaged with public sector procurement. In order to encourage greater SME participation the OGP is working with industry representative bodies to promote the engagement of Irish business in public procurement (including ISME, IBEC, SFA, Chambers Ireland, and CIF) as well as the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, InterTrade Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.
This year, for example, the OGP supported two 'Meet the Buyer' events - one in Belfast and the other in Dublin, Go To Tender workshops and Taking Care of Business events with a combined attendance in excess of 2,000 businesses. In addition, the OGP is proactively promoting the eTenders system to get more businesses to register which resulted in over 12,000 new supplier registrations in 2014 and a similar number is expected for 2015.
The reform of public procurement across the public service is on-going and will continue to provide opportunities to the SME sector to win business. The Office of Government Procurement will continue to work with industry to ensure that winning government business is done in a fair, transparent and accessible way and to ensure that government procurement policies are business friendly.
