At the end of March 2023, the OGP (Office of Government Procurement) published Circular 05/2023 : Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement. The Circular, designed to foster SMEs participation in public procurement contracts, increases the thresholds for advertising on eTenders to €50,000 for Goods & Services and to €200,000 for Works – both thresholds exclusive of VAT.
The OGP has created a short YouTube video available on this webpage on Circular 05/2023 which also includes a concise FAQ for further information.
What are the new thresholds for procuring services?
The new guidance for procuring Goods and Services is as follows:
- Buyers can award contracts that are valued below €5,000 (excluding VAT) on the basis of verbal or written quotes from at least supplier
- For contracts valued between €5,000 and €50,000, buyers have multiple options. contracts can be awarded on the following competitive processes:
- Responses to written specifications (including by email) that were sent to at least three suppliers,
- Responses to at least three quotations obtained using the electronic request for quotes facility on eTenders, or
- A more formal tendering process by advertising on eTenders.
- Contracts valued over €50,000 excluding VAT must be advertised on eTenders.
Immediate Effect
The Circular takes effect immediately. One hopes that Public Sector bodies embrace it immediately rather than waiting to update their own internal procedures.
This is a very welcome change from the Office of Public Procurement. We wish the OGP all the best with the go-live of the new eTenders platform on 15 May.
Six key tips for Tendering
My evergreen blogpost on public procurement lists six key tips for tendering as follows:
- Carefully select the jobs that you tender for
- Structure your tender submission to follow their criteria
- Focus on quality, expertise and track record
- Build a team
- Have correct pricing structure
- Present a professional document
The reaction to that original blogpost prompted me to create a free online training programme on Tendering.
Reminder- free online training programme by Donncha Hughes, Business Advisor
This is my most popular free online course – create a free thinkific account – so I sincerely hope that it is of benefit to small business owners and their senior management to include finance, marketing and business development personnel, along with their technical experts – who want to start the process of leveraging opportunities presented by Public Procurement tenders in Ireland.
I was also delighted to present a short workhop on behalf of LEO Roscommon during Enterprise Week 2023.
