Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2017
381. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which he can reconcile the prohibitive turnover criteria and other discriminatory exclusionist criteria for contractors to qualify to tender for State contract works; his plans to rectify this discriminatory practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27536/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraPublic sector organisations are required to adhere to EU and national procurement rules. The Office of Public Works has embarked on a process of putting framework contracts in place across many areas of operations including the electrical and mechanical area. In establishing such frameworks assessment criteria are necessary to form judgements as to the capacity and capability of applicant contractors. Turnover is one such metric. The intention is to set turnover and other criteria to as minimum a level as possible relative to the scale of the work involved. This can be a difficult balance to set as, while a contracting authority will wish to admit as many suitable applicants as possible, it will also wish to ensure that applicants have sufficient capacity and scale to undertake the works involved. It is not practical to set turnover and other criteria in all cases that provide opportunity for all contractors. Some contractors will inevitably fail to meet the criteria set but, as stated, the objective is to admit as many suitable contractors as possible. Assessment criteria will be kept under constant review and any appropriate adjustments made to foster optimum tender competitions.
