Thomas Pringle TD has today called for evidence that the impact on jobs was assessed when the government instructed that public service bodies such as schools are to now purchase supplies from centralised companies through public procurement.
In his Priority Question to Minister Brian Hayes in the Dáil today, Deputy Pringle asked if he had assessed the impact on local jobs of a public procurement circular that provides for single suppliers on a national level for day to day purchases for public bodies, such as schools purchasing stationary and office supplies, that can now only purchase these supplies from one provider.
Speaking on the matter, the Independent for Donegal South West stated: “There are many small companies throughout the country that provide supplies to public bodies which will now suffer greatly and result in job losses as a result of this decision put in place by the National Procurement Service. By choosing only one company to provide specific supplies is bad for competitiveness, bad for business and very bad for jobs.
“There are a number of local companies in Donegal that have provided supplies, such as janitorial supplies to schools, for many years and are now facing a bleak future. When I highlighted these concerns to the Minister he accused local public sector managers of ‘looking after their friends’ when choosing where to buy their goods from, yet they seem to think choosing one company for the entire public service is somehow the right way to go.
“If local jobs are lost, which will happen if this is allowed to continue, the value of the procurement framework is undermined and will end up costing more to the State.
“I asked for the assessment on the impact of local jobs and I now await the evidence that this assessment was indeed carried out, and I intend to follow-up on with Minister Hayes on this,” stated Pringle.
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