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Report finds that 94% of analysed expenditure is with firms within Ireland and the majority is with SMEs

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with Special Responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government, and eGovernment, Patrick O’Donovan TD, today (Thursday) launched the OGP’s Public Service Spend and Tendering Analysis Report for 2017.

This is the OGP’s fifth report on tendering and expenditure on goods, services and minor works by Irish public service bodies (PSBs).

These reports are part of the OGP’s commitment to openness and transparency around public procurement in Ireland.

More than €4.9 billion of annual public procurement addressable spend under the remit of the OGP and its sector partners is analysed in the report for 2017.

The analysis builds on the encouraging results of previous years and shows that 94% of the State’s expenditure remains with firms in Ireland and that the majority (54%) is with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The report also analyses almost 4,400 public service tender notices published on the national procurement platform, etenders.gov.ie.

While the number of tender notices published in 2017 is 12% higher than in 2016, the estimated total value of those notices is 10% lower at just over €6 billion.

The median (typical) estimated contract values for tenders analysed in 2017 is €90,000, indicating that many public contracts are accessible to smaller businesses.

75% of notices fell below the threshold required for advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Welcoming the report, Minister of State O’Donovan said:

This annual report is an important aspect of our commitment to open Government. Year-on-year, we see that Irish firms and SMEs continue to succeed in winning public contracts. The OGP works closely with representative bodies from the SME sector through a dedicated advisory group to make businesses aware of the many opportunities to win work through participation in public procurement.