Irish small businesses note large cost of procurement

Firms Seek Stronger Public Procurement Policy

The survey highlighted that 41% of small firms sold goods or services to the public sector in Ireland and 6% sold goods or services to public sectors abroad. Of the 41% of companies who sell goods to the public sector, 53% rated the process of selling to the public sector as either “poor” or “very poor”.

“One of the main concerns highlighted by small firms is the bureaucracy associated with current public procurement procedures. Tender documents can be lengthy with unnecessary information being sought. Tenders often require extensive financial and technical information which SMEs cannot always fulfil, as they may not have the in-house expertise and as a result the costs of preparing a submission are excessive,” added McNally.

“30% of firms selling into the public sector rate the process as ‘good’. These companies tend to have a strong track record of dealing with the public procurement process, however, a challenge for many of these firms is the length of time it takes for invoices to be paid from the public sector.”