Submissions made to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in November 2011 from a meeting with Robert Watt, Secretary General of the Department were followed up in a meeting held with John Burke of the Department’s Procurement Policy Unit on February 15th 2012 by Tony O’Brien and Tom Moriarty on behalf of IMCA.
A key point made related to recognition of the CMC global consultancy accreditation in quality assurance terms by procurement bodies in Ireland. Given the major effort made by IMCA in having it established and certified by the international body ICMCI, its standards and code of practice merit broad application (the re-certification audit in September 2011 saw IMCA as “a leader in professional best practice within ICMCI”).
Other points made on streamlining of tender processes to benefit both client and consultant include:
- Acceptance of electronic tenders rather than needing to deliver hard copies and / or a memory stick.
- Application of realistic PII levels to tenders – if unnecessarily high these can be a barrier to entry.
- Acceptance of online tax compliance checks rather than submission of hard copy certificates.
- Post-hoc evaluation of project performance on all projects as a basis for improved project performance and learning.
- Provision of comprehensive feedback on unsuccessful tenders as a basis for learning.
The points made were generally agreed and follow on meetings will be held between IMCA and managers responsible for public sector procurement in this Department and in the HSE.
Summaries of earlier submissions relating to CMC recognition and streamlining of tender processes were also tabled at these meetings.