The Irish Government’s electronic tendering site www.etenders.gov.ie said today that the number of suppliers registered on the site has grown to 24,339 as of this month, a 21pc increase of 4,310 suppliers in the past year.
The total number of visits to the website in a month has now grown to 80,000. More than 2,000 Awarding Authorities — public service bodies that are seeking goods, services or works — are now registered on the site, up from 1,500 a year ago. These Awarding Authorities represent upwards of €100m worth of public service tenders, under all business categories, that are available each year
The rise in figures follows the Department of Finance campaign aimed at raising awareness of e-procurement within the Awarding Authorities and to encourage Awarding Authorities to migrate their tenders online.
Previous research had shown that a percentage of smaller businesses believed that the etenders system was solely for larger companies but detailed analysis shows that the great majority of contracts available are relevant for SMEs. These contracts can vary from servicing domestic gas boilers to the construction of extensions for schools. It is clear from the numbers of newly registered suppliers that a rapidly growing number of SMEs have now become aware of the website where registration is free.
According to the most recent analysis, the most popular section is the construction category with more than 371 notices posted. Sub categories under this heading cover civil engineering, maintenance and repair, building and architectural services. These contracts could range from the painting of a single classroom to the building of a hospital.
In second place in terms of numbers of contracts are professional and consultancy services with more than 200 notices published. Categories under this heading are diverse ranging from advertising and consultancy, to valuation and agronomy, banking, ecological and finally auditing services. In third place are information and communication technology contracts with more than 115 notices on the site looking for anything from a couple of PCs to major IT support contracts that could be worth hundreds of thousands of Euro.
By John Kennedy
