Public Procurement Conference

Aidan Sweeney is the executive for enterprise and innovation policy at Ibec. Aidan’s role is to drive Ibec’s enterprise, science, technology and innovation policy on behalf of member organisations, including fiscal and taxation supports for companies. He has special responsibility for public procurement and infrastructure delivery.

Prior to joining Ibec in 2008, Aidan was a Brussels-based consultant who identified, tracked and progressed business development opportunities across a number of sectors with the European institutions or Member State governments, as well as having spent time in the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington, DC.

His professional experience has been primarily founded on market analysis, network building, event management, and the development of communication strategies and advocacy programs in Ireland, Europe and the USA.

Declan McCormack is Programme Manager at the Office of Government Procurement. He has responsibility at Principal Officer level for the Office of Government Procurement’s eInvoicing Ireland programme. The eInvoicing Ireland Programme was established to facilitate and enable public bodies to comply with the requirements of the European eInvoicing Directive (2014/55/EU) and achieve benefits beyond compliance.

Prior to this appointment he held a range of technical and senior management positions in the IT/ eProcurement industry and, as a member of the National Standards Authority (NSAI), has served on the European eProcurement Standardisation task force (CEN/TC434) that was charged with drafting the eInvoicing Standard as referenced by the European eInvoicing Directive (2014/55/EU).

John Swords was appointed Head of Procurement for the Health Service Executive in 2012. John has 30 years’ successful experience in the Health Service Executive both from Finance and Procurement Directorates. He is now responsible for the strategic operational development and management of all procurement related activity.

John was instrumental in the implementation of a Single National Procurement Model for HSE which has been a key enabler in achieving cost reduction, increased efficiencies and the adoption of streamlined standardised procurement processes to avoid duplication of effort.

Paul Davis is Head of the Management Group (School) in Faculty of Business in DCU. He is Program Director for the MSc in E-Commerce having previously completed 8 years as Program Director of the MSc in Strategic Procurement and the MSc in International Management.

Paul is currently Chair and director of the Global Standard for Purchasing and Supply Chain Education and is a past council member and past president for the Irish Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management. He has previously been seconded to the Health Service Executive ICT Strategy Unit, advising on procurement strategy and market engagement and has been on the Procurement for Innovation working group and was responsible for the delivery of the research that led to the publication of the 10 Step Guide to Smarter Procurement.

Paul also served on the Advisory Board to the National Procurement Service at the OPW.

Lisa Beers is Development Officer for the Strategic Investment Board, Northern Ireland. She leads on the Buy Social approach for services contracts in which involves working across the Public Sector in Northern Ireland to integrate social benefits into public contracts. Prior to SIB Lisa worked with the Prince’s Trust for over 4 years, managing the Trust’s programme for unemployed disadvantaged young people setting up in business and a programme which provided grants to young people to support them to enter employment.

Paula Butler is the Head of Procurement at An Post. She is an experienced leader with strong influencing and organisational skills gained in both private and public sectors. Procurement mastery a given. Operates at a senior level in An Post where for the last 5 years she has defined procurement strategy and delivered growth. Prior to An Post, Paula honed her buying skills in a variety of companies and industries, including IBM, Central Bank of Ireland, pharma, computer hardware & software manufacturers and a regional airline.

Paula has an optimistic view of the future for the profession and the potential to deliver for stakeholders. Her educational background includes an MBS in Strategic Procurement, a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and Advanced Diploma in Public Procurement from Kings Inns. She is also an IIPMM and ICEL member, and volunteers time for Dress for Success Dublin, an organisation that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support.

Róisín Killeen is Portfolio Manager, at Principal Officer level, for Travel, HR, and Managed Services at the Office of Government Procurement. In this role, Róisín is responsible for delivering on the public procurement reform agenda and providing compliant procurement solutions for public sector bodies.

Her previous experience was with the OPW’s National Procurement Service and in the private sector delivering strategic capital infrastructure projects. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Surveying from Trinity College Dublin and postgraduate qualifications in procurement from Dublin City University and the Kings Inns.

Micheál Finucane is Category Manager and Deputy Head of the Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC) which operates under the auspices of Kerry County Council. Micheál is responsible for the local government sectorial categories of spend through the development, implementation and management of sourcing strategies for the Category Councils of Plant Hire and Minor Building & Civil Works as established by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP).

Micheál is an accomplished global supply chain and procurement professional with over 10 years’ experience in both private and public sector strategic procurement, deployment of e-Procurement technologies and global supply chain management.

Micheál holds a Bachelor of Science in Production Management from the University of Limerick, a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management from University College Dublin, a Certificate in Public Procurement, a PRINCE2 Practitioner Certificate in Project Management and a Certificate in Finance.

Seán O’Dwyer is an experienced procurement professional having worked in many varied procurement categories as well as having significant experience in related process and systems transformation. He is President of the Irish Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (IIPMM) and President Elect of the International Federation of Procurement and Supply Management (IFPSM).

Mary McKee is a Strategic Advisor at Northern Ireland’s Strategic Investment Board (SIB). As Strategic Advisor on social/community regeneration, she currently heads the Buy Social team.

Buy Social is an initiative developed by SIB since 2013 which is aimed at getting more social and economic return from the £2.6billion spend on public procurement. This is specifically aimed at generating employment and training opportunities from Government contracts for people furthest from the labour market. To date 700 plus people have got opportunities from a Buy Social clause — these include women returning to the labour market, young people leaving care and people with disabilities.

From 2008-2013 Mary led on the development of the Conflict Resolution Centre at Maze Long Kesh, one of the most sensitive and controversial regeneration projects in Europe. This involved very careful stakeholder engagement and relationship development.

Mary has previously been a member of both the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Probation Board as well as Director of Groundwork NI which pioneers regeneration work in partnership with local communities.

Lisa leads on the Buy Social approach for services contracts, which involves working across the Public Sector to integrate social benefits into public contracts. Prior to SIB Lisa worked with the Prince’s Trust for over 4 years, managing the Trust’s programme for unemployed disadvantaged young people setting up in business and a programme which provided grants to young people to support them to enter employment.

The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel is located in Golden Ln, Dublin, Ireland.

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+353 1 898 2900