Batt O Keeffe
THE Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, wants small businesses to tender for more public sector contracts.
He has asked public sector organisations to build stronger relationships with the Government’s job creation agency, Enterprise Ireland, to improve their procurement practices and get a better grasp of the indigenous enterprise landscape.
Enterprise Ireland is now working closely with targeted public contracting authorities nationally and at local government level where the agency has secured executive buy-in from procurement managers in boosting the participation of small businesses in tender opportunities.
The agency has already connected over 70 of its client firms with public bodies developing a number of programmes that will improve service delivery.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), for example, is developing a number of technology-led solutions which will help improve passenger experiences as they transit through terminals.
The DAA is engaging with a number of Enterprise Ireland high-potential technology firms as part of that process.
Meanwhile, a cluster of Enterprise Ireland clients are engaged around opportunities for the design, build and management of infrastructure supporting the ESB’s rollout of electric cars.
Minister O’Keeffe said it was vital that small Irish businesses were fully
aware of public sector procurement opportunities.
“It is important that public sector organisations develop relationships with Enterprise Ireland so that they have a strong knowledge of the indigenous enterprise landscape. Public sector organisations should be aware of the economic impact their procurement spend can have on small Irish businesses and, in particular, the implications for job creation in local communities.
“Irish firms themselves should be given every help to fully engage with the public procurement process so that they can pitch successfully for business opportunities,” said Minister O’Keeffe.
Minister O’Keefe doesn’t need to remind the Irish people of the ‘indigenous enterprise landscape’. We know too well that it is rife with cronyism and clientalistic favours, largely operated by Fianna Fail and it’s cosy cartells, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We have not forgotten the Galway tent or the brown envelope culture where Fianna Fail tended to the needs of the indigenous enterprise landscape. But the Minister needs to be reminded that his government has yet again failed us in the recent budget with a meagre stimulus package to create jobs to the many thousands who now face poverty thanks to Fianna Fail. The above statement from the minister is nothing but PR spin, given that when contextualised, it is a mere drop in the ocean in the task of restoring our economy to an acceptable level. Is this really the best he can offer?
Ariticulate, accurate and appropriate. That is the best way to sum up Deirdre’s post.