Government must assist small firms with EU tenders, says Isme

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) is calling on the government to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to learn how to win international tenders.

Last month Isme identified that billions of euro in tendering opportunities would open in the years ahead for Irish business as a result of Brexit. The organisation suggests that a consequence of the British vote will be that UK companies are frozen out of the EU tendering process because they won’t be EU members by the time some contractual opportunities arise.

This follows from a report in the Financial Times that officials in Brussels are beginning to shut out British groups from EU contracts.

Calling on the Government to act, Isme chief executive Neil McDonnell said “we cannot just sit back and assume these opportunities will fall into our laps. There are silver linings to Brexit; this is one of them. We cannot wait”.

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In a statement, Isme also suggests that one Government agency be tasked with facilitating and driving international tender consortium formation. The organisation believes this action should be at the top of Ireland’s list of priorities to mitigate the impact of Brexit.

Mr McDonnell added: "There is an onus on Government to act on these opportunities right now for the sake of the SME sector in Ireland. "