New guidelines issued by the Government for public contract procurement will make it easier for small to medium sized enterprises in Mayo to compete for Government contracts.

 The guidelines were been drawn up at the request of the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD and his colleagues Minister Dara Calleary TD and Minister Martin Mansergh TD.

“New guidelines have now been issued by the Department of Finance to ensure that SMEs are not unfairly hindered in competing for public contracts,” explained Minister Calleary.

“Until now, small firms have found it tough to complete in the public procurement process and this has been an issue that I have been actively working on with my colleagues the Minister Brian Lenihan TD and Minister Martin Mansergh TD.”

“Under the new guidelines issued this week, all advertised contracts up to €250,000 for works and €125,000 for supplies and general services must now be open to all potential tenderers without a prequalification process.

“This will make it a lot easier for local, small firms to tender for works such as the summer works scheme, which provides a lot of work around the county.

“The threshold for advertising supplies and general services on the Government’s public procurement website www.etenders.gov.ie has also been halved from €50,000 to €25,000.”

“The guidelines have been changed prohibiting public bodies from making those who wish to enter public competitions pay to do so. The new rules will also get rid of more red tape for SME’s as a tenderer will only have to submit the necessary documentation when they are close to being awarded a contract.

“This will reduce the amount of paperwork involved in submitting tenders, considerably easing the administrative burden on businesses bidding for public contracts.

“These new rules make it easier and less costly to tender for public contracts. They reduce the burden on SMEs whilst at the same time they still ensure the best value for money for the taxpayer. I am hopeful that this will level the playing field for Mayo companies and open up more doors for them to win Government contracts.

“I accept that there are still some anomalies with some larger contracts but I am working with my colleagues to ensure that these are dealt with as soon as possible,” concluded Minister Dara Calleary TD.