National directive may hit Clare paper suppliers

Clare office equipment and paper suppliers will suffer a significant reduction in business if the county’s primary and secondary schools are forced to adhere rigidly to a national procurement directive.

 

That’s the warning issued this week by Clonlara-based businessman Bill Hickey, who provides photocopying paper and office equipment to national and post-primary schools throughout the Mid-West.

Mr Hickey of Bill Hickey Limited explained that schools have been directed by the Government-appointed National Procurement Service (NPS) Framework to purchase from a specified provider, which effectively rules out local businesses who previously relied on public bodies and schools for a large percentage of their business.

He pointed out it is possible for any company to submit a tender for a very low quality of paper for consideration by the NPS to secure a contract.

With three different grades of paper, he stressed that a tender for the lowest quality only could result in causing problems in a photocopier or printer, which in turn could cost €70or €80 to rectify.

Part of his service involves providing office equipment, which complements the paper side of the business and would also be adversely hit if schools are no longer purchasing materials for their daily use.

Having built up a considerable trade supplying paper for schools in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, he expressed concern that a significant drop in business will threaten the viability of his four employees.
He warned this issue would adversely affect office supply companies throughout the region unless the Government intervenes to safeguard the viability of local businesses.

The NPS was established by the Government in 2009 to ensure maximum efficiency in the area of public service procurement of goods and services.

It is now Government policy that all publicly funded bodies should have access to public procurement contracts to reduce costs and increase efficiencies across the public service.

When schools are using the NPS framework, they are obliged to purchase from the Core list of products.
According to the NPS  Frameworks for Schools, a school may still purchase from suppliers outside the mandatory frameworks if it can be shown that the product can be sourced more cheaply elsewhere or than an existing contract is in place.

A spokesman for the national Financial Support Service Unit, Miltown, Dublin, which is responsible for delivering the NPS for schools based on Department of Finance guidelines, shared Mr Hickey’s concern.

The spokesman recalled concern about the impact on local suppliers was raised by the FSSU during meetings with the NPS and the Department of Education.

Efforts by The Clare Champion to secure a comment from the NPS proved unsuccessful at the time of going to press.