Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
147. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the mechanisms in place to monitor the performance of the Office of Government Procurement and of the impact of its decisions on small and medium sized enterprises supplying goods and services to the State sector [12471/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraA key element of the Public Service Reform agenda is to reduce costs and achieve better value for money through reform of public procurement. The Government established the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), which operates as an office of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to lead on the Public Procurement Reform Programme. The OGP commenced operations in 2014 and, together with four key sectors (Health, Defence, Education and Local Government), has responsibility for sourcing goods and services on behalf of the Public Service. The OGP also has responsibility for procurement policy and procedures. The OGP, as part of my Department, is subject to the Civil Service and Ministerial accountability arrangements.
The encouragement of SME participation in public tendering opportunities has always been a core principle underpinning the OGP’s approach to the market. Accordingly, the OGP takes a balanced approach between delivering value for the taxpayer and ensuring that public procurement is accessible by all businesses, including SMEs. The primary measures aimed at achieving this objective are:
- Undertaking market analysis prior to tendering in order to better understand the range of goods and services on offer; market developments and innovation; what commercial models are available; the competitive landscape; and the specific capabilities of SMEs etc.
- Setting proportionate eligibility requirements, for example insurance and turnover, to support SME participation;
- Breaking tendering competitions into smaller lots (for example, by sector, region, value etc.) to actively encourage SME participation and to align with the capacity and capability of the marketplace;
- Actively engaging in a range of events to help foster awareness of and to encourage engagement in the public procurement process;
- Continuous engagement with SME stakeholders and the main enterprise agencies; and
-Promoting supplier awareness of eTenders, the Government’s national tendering platform (etenders.gov.ie).
Circular 10/2014 - Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement - issued by my Department contains a series of measures designed to assist SMEs in Public Procurement and sets out the policy in this regard. This policy was reiterated in the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services issued in July last year.
My colleague, Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan, chairs the SME Advisory group, which meets on a quarterly basis in accordance with the Programme for Government. This ensures that the voice of Irish SMEs can be heard by Government and the OGP. The group, consisting of representatives from the public sector and SME business representative bodies, has been working to further promote SME participation in the public procurement process.
Finally, it is also important to remember that open tendering is a two way street and that it provides Irish companies with opportunities to compete abroad. Public expenditure on goods, works, and services representing approximately 14% of EU GDP with an annual value of nearly €2 trillion. The open market regime offers opportunities for Irish companies to win business abroad and reliable EU studies indicate that many Irish businesses are successful in this regard.
The OGP will continue to work with stakeholders 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.
