Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
278. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether consideration is being given to the establishment of a national procurement directory or centralised supplier portal to assist social enterprises, SMEs and innovative enterprises in identifying and accessing public procurement opportunities across the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47769/26]
View answerThe eTenders website, http://www.etenders.gov.ie/ (eTenders) is a central facility for all public sector contracting authorities to advertise procurement opportunities. It is essential that suppliers interested in supplying goods, services or works to the public sector should register on eTenders.
eTenders is where suppliers will be able see procurement opportunities and award notices. It also facilitates the electronic submission of supplier bids and communications between bidders and contracting authorities with regards to tenders published on the site.
The Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) is a detailed EU standard system of codes for describing goods, services and works to be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and is also supported on eTenders. Suppliers should ensure that they are registered on eTenders with the CPV Codes relevant to their sectors in order to be notified of relevant business opportunities.
In recent years, my department has implemented several initiatives to encourage SMEs, including social enterprises, to sell to government. In 2023, my department provided guidance to public bodies on measures they can take to promote the participation of SMEs in public procurement. The Department has published a suite of information for public bodies promoting the use of socially responsible public procurement which includes measures to promote the participation of social enterprises. The Department has also published information for suppliers, which includes a dedicated section on social enterprises, which is aimed at promoting public procurement as a business opportunity through the provision of accessible guidance and resources.
The Programme for Government includes a commitment to review the public procurement process to make it more transparent and encourage greater participation from SMEs. Working towards this aim, and to set out the strategic direction of public procurement for the next five years, my department is developing a first National Public Procurement Strategy.
The National Public Procurement Strategy has been subject to a comprehensive consultation process to ensure it is informed by the views and experiences of a broad spectrum of Irish business, particularly SMEs and social enterprises, as well as public buyers and policymakers across the public sector. This level of engagement has been critical to identifying the key challenges facing both buyers and suppliers and in shaping practical actions for inclusion in the Strategy. The Strategy is now in its final stages of development, with a central policy objective focused on making participation in public procurement more accessible for suppliers, particularly micro and small businesses and social enterprises.
