Procurement rules on small projects making use of public money should be eased in order to make things easier for schools, sports clubs and community organisations.
That’s the viewpoint of Galway East TD Seán Canney, who said that the current procurement rules are “too onerous” on such groups.
“Schools, clubs and organisations are incurring additional costs by having to go through complex processes to get small works done”.
“For smaller jobs, they should be able to get a number of quotes and choose the best one. Instead, some of them are having to pay to bring in consultants to help them.
Many small contractors and sub-contractors also lose out under this system, Seán Canney said, because they aren’t big enough to be eligible to tender, restricting their ability to compete and expand.
“This makes no sense for small projects and means that our small local businesses are missing out on jobs that they are more than qualified to carry out.”
“We need to look again at our procurement processes to give local trades people and construction companies an opportunity to compete.”
The Independent TD said that he has raised this matter with the Minister for Public Procurement, Patrick O’Donovan, who has agreed to review the process he said.
