New public procurement guidelines that make it easier for small businesses to bid for work across
the entire public sector were announced today [17 April 2014] by Brian Hayes, T.D., Minister of State
with special responsibility for Public Service Reform and the Office of Public Works.

Building on the range of supports that the Government has already put in place to encourage small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) to bid for public contracts, and recognising good practice across the
public sector, the new guidelines will make public procurement more accessible by SMEs.

The new guidelines promote the setting of relevant and proportionate financial capacity, turnover
and insurance levels for tendering firms and the sub-dividing larger contracts into lots, where
possible, to enable SMEs to bid for these opportunities. The guidelines also encourage SMEs to form
consortia where they are not of sufficient scale to tender in their own right and to register on
www.etenders.gov.ie to ensure maximum exposure to tendering opportunities.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of State Hayes said, “The reform of public procurement is a key
element of the public sector reform programme. Our goal is to ensure that it gets easier for
businesses to engage with public procurement while at the same time driving improved value for
money for the taxpayer. The new Office of Government Procurement is commencing its operations
this year and is key to bringing a more professional and whole of government approach to
procurement.”

Minister of State Hayes added, “Government wants to see Irish business be competitive and win
business both here and abroad. Businesses who are successful in winning public contracts often win
repeat business and given the consistent nature of public procurement processes, are often well
placed to win public business abroad. The Office of Government Procurement is working with
industry representatives and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to improve supplier
education through initiatives such as Meet the Buyer events which have been running since 2010
and the very popular Go 2 Tender programme, to standardise and simplify the processes for
suppliers, and to reduce impediments and unnecessary bureaucracy in procurement.”

Check out full details of the new guidelines.