The Irish State spends approximately €18.5 billion every year on goods, services and works. Of this spending, 92% remains in Ireland and 50% is spent with SMEs. Across the EU, public procurement represents a significant proportion of total procurement. It is a useful tool for achieving policy objectives and can have many societal benefits including spending efficiency, improving well-being, working to deliver carbon net zero and promoting ethical and resilient supply chains.
Value for money is a key part of successful public procurement. The Programme for Government 2020 commits to ensuring strong value-for-money for the taxpayer whilst seeking to minimise the environmental impact and optimise the community benefits. It tasks the Office of Government Procurement “to support the adoption of new technologies through the development of new public service frameworks” commits to the development and implementation of a sustainable procurement policy, updating all frameworks in line with green procurement practice, and mandating the inclusion of green criteria in all procurements using public funds.
The Climate Action Plan requires every public body to have a climate mandate, a key element of that is using public procurement to deliver change. Ireland’s public sector is in position of significant influence to stimulate the provision of more resource-efficient, less polluting goods, services and works within the marketplace. A new Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan is currently being prepared and is expected to be finalised and published in early Q1 2024.
The National Development Plan 2021-2030 is the largest ever delivered in the history of the State with €165 billion set to be invested in infrastructure projects. It has a particular focus on housing, climate, transport and healthcare projects for the decade ahead. Recent inflation and supply chain issues have caused a set of complex issues for the construction sector.
The Public Procurement Conference 2024 will once again bring together key stakeholders from across the Irish procurement sector to discuss the latest developments and their implications for your procurement strategy.
Clontarf Castle Hotel Dublin
08:30
Thursday 14th March
This conference will examine what effective procurement means for public service organisations in Ireland. It will provide a genuine, in-depth understanding of the key issues via a high level panel of speakers.
An expert panel of local and visiting experts will look at issues including:
This conference is of interest to all procurement and purchasing professionals in the public, private and voluntary sector, as well as other managers involved in other aspects of service delivery.
Principal Officer and Head of Professional Services Portfolio
Office of Government Procurement
Director of Commercial & Procurement
Welsh Government
National Director of Procurement
Health Service Executive
Research Associate
Stockholm Environment Institute
Business Development Capture Manager
AWS
Chief Procurement Officer
Iarnród Éireann
Head of Sourcing Education &
Director of Education Procurement Service
Department of Education
Strategic Supply Management, Faculty of Business
TU Dublin
Chief Procurement Officer
ESB
Senior Projects and Procurement Advisor
The Housing Agency
Head of Enterprise & Regulatory Affairs
Ibec
Registration and morning coffee
Aiden Sweeney
Head of Enterprise & Regulatory Affairs
Ibec
Chair's welcome and introduction
Anne Lannon
Principal Officer and Head of Professional Services Portfolio
Office of Government Procurement
Procurement in Ireland: Future outlook and opportunities
John Coyne
Director of Commercial & Procurement
Welsh Government
Driving change through public procurement in Wales
Paul Roulston
Business Development Capture Manager
AWS
Procuring Cloud in the Public Sector
Dr Maggie Farrell
Strategic Supply Management, Faculty of Business
TU Dublin
The key enablers and capabilities for public procurement business model evolution
Eileen Torres Morales
Research Associate
Stockholm Environment Institute
Green public procurement: a lever for mitigating European greenhouse gas emissions
Questions & answers / panel discussion
Coffee and Networking break
John Swords
National Director of Procurement
Health Service Executive
Procurement in a Changing Environment
Sinead Leonard
Chief Procurement Officer
Iarnród Éireann
The steps to successful transport procurement
Philip Gurnett
Head of Sourcing Education & Director of Education Procurement Service
Department of Education
Managing procurement across the education sector
Norman Jackson
Senior Procurement & Projects Advisor
The Housing Agency
Use of frameworks in the delivery of The Housing Agency Remediation Programmes
Conor O’Regan
Chief Procurement Officer
ESB
Transforming procurement in ESB
Questions & answers / panel discussion
Networking lunch and conference close
There are a limited number of opportunities for interested organisations to partner with the conference as a sponsor or exhibitor. This is an excellent way for organisations to raise their profile with a key audience of senior decision-makers from across Ireland’s procurement sector. For more information on packages available and speaking opportunities at the event contact Jillian Wallace on 01 661 3755 or email Jillian.Wallace@eolasmagazine.ie.