Ireland's leading public procurement event
Procurex Ireland, the leading public procurement event on the island, will return to the RDS in Dublin in April 2025, bringing together buyers, suppliers, leaders and influencers from across Ireland’s €20 billion public procurement marketplace.
Officially supported by the Office of Government Procurement and playing host to some of Ireland’s highest profile procurement experts, buyers and supplier organisations, Procurex Ireland is the one event public procurement professionals across the island cannot afford to miss.
Procurex Ireland 2024 speakers included:
Ossian Smyth TD
Minister of State
Ossian Smyth was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment, in July 2020. He was given responsibility for Communications, Circular Economy, and Cyber Security at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, in May 2021.
Ossian served as a County Councillor on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council from 2014 to 2020. He served as Cathaoirleach of that Council between 2018 and 2019. During his time on the Council, he introduced a new levy on vacant shops; new insulation and ventilation rules for future planning developments; banned the use of chemical weedkiller; and introduced an electric vehicle policy for council vehicles.
Prior to his election as TD he worked as a Technical Project Manager in Saint Vincent’s Hospital.
Conor Murphy MLA
Economy Minister
Conor Murphy MLA was appointed Economy Minister on 3 February 2024.
Having first been elected to the Assembly in 1998, Mr Murphy served as Finance Minister between 2020 and 2022 and Minister for Regional Development between 2007 and 2011. He has also been a member of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Murphy was MP for Newry and Armagh between 2005 and 2015.
Anne Stewart
Assistant Secretary General - Head of Public Procurement Policy, Service Delivery and Digitalisation
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) plays a key role in helping the State to save money when buying goods and services, and are responsible for sourcing common goods and services for the public sector, saving our clients both time and money. Their experts are available to support with all aspects of the public procurement process, and they also work closely with the business community to promote procurement opportunities for SMEs. The OGP operates as a Division of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER).
John Swords
National Director
John Swords is the National Director of Procurement in the Health Service Executive (HSE). The HSE provides all of Ireland's public health services in hospitals and communities across the country and is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the State. In this capacity, John leads procurement with a firm focus to enable a better service, with improved outcomes for patients and service users in a challenging environment.
John has been instrumental in progressing the strategic procurement journey across the organisation. With a keen interest on driving transformation through collaboration and innovation, John has led on developing and improving the Procurement Sourcing Plan, Compliance Improvement, development and roll out of the National Logistics Service along with supporting the National Finance Reform and Stabilisation Programmes.
The HSE Corporate Procurement Plan 2022-2024 sets out the key priorities to improve and enhance procurement activities within the health service. John’s procurement leadership across health incorporates strong emphasis on the importance of sustainability as being critical to our collective obligations to provide safe patient care and contribute to reducing our collective carbon footprint. John is a member of the HSE Climate Action Steering Group and is leading on two key programmes of work in relation to Green Procurement and Procurement Decarbonisation Trajectory.
Cross border collaborative working in health and social care is a high priority for John and in this regard he chairs the Procurement CAWT (Cooperation And Working Together) Group, a partnership between the Health and Social Care Services in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is EU funded. As a member of the OGP (Office of Government Procurement) Reform Board, John is committed to procurement excellence and the overall public procurement reform programme. He is also a member of the GS1 Ireland Board of Directors whose standards improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in 25 sectors.
Linda O'Hare
Assistant Director - Procurement
Linda O’Hare is Assistant Director – Procurement, at Business Services Organisation (BSO), Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS), in Northern Ireland (NI). PaLS is the sole provider of professional procurement and logistics services to all Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations in NI. BSO PaLS manages £1.3bn of expenditure per annum, has circa 420 staff, with procurement offices and warehouses situated across NI. BSO PaLS manages procurements and contracts across all categories of goods and services - clinical, non-clinical, social care and ICT. Linda has 23 years Public Procurement experience, in the Health Services in both Ireland and NI. Prior to this she headed up the purchasing department in the 5-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin, and in her early career held a number of management roles in the hospitality industry. In her spare time, Linda takes long walks in the countryside, spends time with family and friends and likes to travel extensively.
Philip Gurnett
Director and Head of Sourcing Education
Philip has a successful track record of achievement as a leader and senior manager in the public and private sector. In 2013 he was appointed to the OGP executive as head of sourcing education with responsibility for implementing and operating the centralised procurement model within the new DES sector sourcing hub, EPS.
Within the Education Sector, Philip is responsible for sourcing a procurement spend of approximately €900m annually. In his role as director of EPS, he has established and developed a business model and change management strategy to on-board the model and has delivered savings of over €13m to date.
Brendan Walsh
Chief Operational Officer
Brendan joined the RSA in August 2022 as Chief Operations Officer (COO). The role of customer operations is to oversee the delivery of the RSA public services including the driving test, driver theory test, driver licensing, NCT, CVRT, enforcement. Our Drivers license services interact of over 1 million people per year and our Vehicle testing and Enforcement ensure that over 2 million vehicles are tested to the required standard annually.
Ingrid De Doncker
Head of Research and Innovation
Originally from Belgium, Ingrid has been in Ireland since 1996. She is one of Europe’s leading supply chain, procurement and sustainability thinkers and expert practitioner. In her previous company, Ingrid built a leading strategic practice helping customers “Buy Better”; achieve cost savings while building better relationships with suppliers and the planet. A sought-after speaker, and lecturer in three of Ireland’s universities, Ingrid is passionate about supporting business and supply chain teams to drive sustainable change to positively impact the profit, social and environmental bottom line of the business. Ingrid is also the founder of the Procurement Transformation Institute (PTI), a non-profit organisation that elevates the Procurement Profession.
Jeanne Copeland
CEO and Founder
Procurement Consultant and Trainer – Jeanne is passionate about promoting the role of procurement in the public and utility sectors throughout the EU. Having successfully established a consulting and training business with a reputation for getting the job done, she is now focused on growing the Greenville brand and range of services to meet the current challenges facing the market including reduced supplier bases, growing costs, Brexit and effective contract management, all of which will doubtless have a major impact on Irish society in the years ahead.
Julie O'Sullivan
Head of Commercial Procurement Services
Julie O’Sullivan is the Head of Commercial Procurement Services (CPS) in the Education Authority (EA), a Centre of Procurement Expertise for Education in Northern Ireland. The EA is the largest educational body in the United Kingdom NI’s largest employer. Julie leads an award winning procurement team who support 1145 schools/ 101 youth centres, 800 school meal kitchens and numerous external education partners.
Her remit includes the responsibility and management of a £1.7b contract portfolio and an annual procurement expenditure of circa £500m. The service is an important strategic enabler in assisting the EA in delivering its mission ‘To provide a high quality education for every child’.
Julie brings to her position 25 years’ experience and a well-established background in Strategic Procurement and Contract Management. A key achievement has been achieving Centre of Procurement Expertise for the EA and she has led significant Transformational and Change Management Projects in the Public Sector. Prior to working in the EA, she worked in Local Government and Private Sector Procurement functions.
Julie holds an MSC in Purchasing and Supply Management, a BA (Hons) in Business Services and MCIPS.
Clare Egan
Head of Procurement
Clare Egan is Head of Procurement at Ulster University. Clare is an experienced, enthusiastic, and highly motivated individual with over 30 years’ experience in procurement working in both the private and public sector. In her procurement career Clare has worked for multinational companies such as Pepsi Co Restaurants (London), Wyeth Medica (Newbridge, Co. Kildare) and Tyco Healthcare (Europe). Clare has achieved high success rates throughout her working career in procurement.
As Head of Procurement at Ulster University, Clare provides leadership and strategic direction to the procurement team and across the institution, employing procurement methods that enable end users to consider multiple objectives including social values, financial considerations allowing them to consider the balance between cost, risk, and benefits.
Donal Daly
CEO
Donal Daly is a serial entrepreneur who has founded five successful global technology companies since founding his first company in Artificial Intelligence in 1986. He has worked with world leading companies like Autodesk, Bank of America, BT, Century Link, GE, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, Salesforce, Tableau, United Healthcare, and Workday.
Donal’s latest passion is Future Planet, a sustainability software company with a particular focus on helping corporations shape their sustainability strategies while managing compliance obligations and the transformation to a sustainable enterprise.
Donal has been actively involved in advising the Irish government on its national climate change action program and is an advisor to several special interest groups on environmental and renewable energy, energy conservation, governance, and low carbon-procurement matters. He is the author of multiple books on business topics such as Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation of which four were Amazon #1 bestsellers. He is a graduate in Sustainable Development Goals from KU Leuven Belgium, and Electrical Engineering from University College Cork, Ireland.
Aoife Sugrue
Acting Senior Executive Engineer - Regional & Local Roads Design Office
Aoife Sugrue is an Acting Senior Executive Engineer with the Regional & Local Roads Design Office of Cork County Council. Since joining the public sector in 2001, she has worked in various roles within the Planning, Environment, Water Services and Climate Action areas of the local authority. In 2023, Aoife joined the Roads Directorate in Cork County Council to undertake a pilot project on Green Public Procurement in Road Maintenance.
Michael Swan
Senior Procurement Consultant and Trainer
Michael is experienced in managing and supervising client projects using his unique practical style to deliver client results of the highest quality in all areas of procurement. He is a key member of the Greenville training group with well-honed expertise and skills in the development and delivery of training to public sector clients at all stages of their procurement journey. Fully recognised for his warm personality and gentle approach which belies his considerable breadth of experience he is now playing his part in expanding our training business to great success.
Rachel Loughrey
Project Support Officer (Circular Economy)
The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) was launched in 2011, by organisations and businesses from the entire value chain of the built environment. These include universities, professional institutes, local authorities, leading contractors, NGOs, architects, engineers, energy companies and leading national and transnational companies. All are united in one common goal to provide leadership to accelerate the rate of change in Ireland to a sustainable built environment.
Des Phelan
Sustainable Transport Programme Manager
Established in 1989, Coillte is proud to be the custodian of 440,000 hectares or 7% of Ireland’s land. This is primarily forested land and makes Coillte Ireland's largest forest manager and largest provider of outdoor recreation. Coillte also develops green energy projects, produces panel boards and delivers nature conservation projects of scale. Coillte is focused on delivering the multiple benefits from it's forests and land for climate, nature, wood and people.
Coillte is part of a wider forestry sector, that together manages approximately 11% of Ireland's land, supports 12,000 jobs and contributes €2.3bn to the economy annually. Our purpose is to manage the state forests on behalf of the people of Ireland.
Louise Masterson
Head of Procurement
Louise Masterson is the Head of Procurement at An Post. Louise is a professionally qualified, highly motivated and enthusiastic Procurement leader who is responsible for setting a transformative procurement strategy and leading a core team across a wide spectrum of categories.
Catherine Opdebeeck
Programme & Procurement Director
Catherine is an Architect having studied at University College Dublin and TU Delft. She has over 15 years experience working in private and public sectors, as a designer and as a client. At the GDA Catherine has taken a particular interest in Sustainability and Whole Life Carbon considerations working to integrate these into procurement models and strategies. She has extensive experience across a wide range of projects in Ireland, the UK and further afield, many of which have been internationally recognised for design and construction excellence.
Catherine is the Director of Programme & Procurement at the Grangegorman Development Agency. The role of the Agency is to develop the c.70hectare site of the former St Brendans’ Hospital in line with the Grangegorman Masterplan vision on behalf of stakeholders including the Health Service Executive (HSE), Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the communities of the Grangegorman neighbourhood.
Colin Jess
CEO
Colin took on the position of Chief Executive at Social Enterprise NI in June 2016 having spent 38 years working across local financial institutions. During his time mainly in Ulster Bank, Colin was a member of the senior management team within Business Banking. In the Bank Colin lead the Banks interaction and relationship with key stakeholders across, social enterprise, charity and voluntary sectors, as well as engaging with the Public Sector.
Colin is currently a Council Member of NI Chamber of Commerce and in December 2020 was appointed to the reconstituted Procurement Board to represent the social enterprise sector. He is passionate about the benefits of social value in procurement. Colin also sits on the High Street Taskforce Forum as well as the Belfast City Councils, Growing the Economy & City Development Board. He is an Ambassador for local charity Start360 and a member of The Resurgam Trust Advisory Panel. He is formerly Chair of the Finance and Governance Committee of Women in Business.
Treasa Brannick O’Cillín BL
Consultant & Learning and Development Manager
Treasa is a qualified Barrister with over 17 years working and leading at a high level in regulation, compliance, and quality assurance, including delivering on significant public procurement projects. Treasa has been part of conducting internal and external statutory institutional reviews and was in professional practice at the commercial bar in the area governance and regulation, before becoming Head of Quality Assurance with one of the one of the largest Irish education and training providers. Treasa utilises her extensive experience to conduct legal analysis and integrate both advisory and training services to inform strategic planning and decision making. Treasa believes strongly in the power of education and training and still lectures in law in Trinity College, Dublin.
Chris MM Gordon
CEO
Chris is the CEO of the Irish Social Enterprise Network (Socent.ie), Managing Partner of Collaboration Ireland and a Teaching Fellow of Trinity Business School. Chris also volunteers as Chair of Far and Wild social enterprise and is President of the Irish US Alumni Association. Chris is a former Country Partner for the BCorp community in Ireland and the former Director of Social Enterprise NI.
Chris’ work focuses on leading and managing European and nationwide projects on Social Enterprise, Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate Responsibility, Social Impact, Startups, Cooperatives, Exporting, SMEs in Ireland and leading a life of passion and purpose.
Abby Semple
Senior Associate Consultant
Abby Semple, LL.B., Ph.D. is a consultant with over 13 years of experience in advising public bodies on strategic and legal aspects of procurement. Her focus is on the environmental and social impact of public contracts and how these can be meaningfully addressed through the contracting process. Abby has managed complex tenders on behalf of public sector clients in Ireland and the UK, developed policy and guidance at the EU level, and is author of one of the first books on the 2014 EU Procurement Directives A Practical Guide to Public Procurement (Oxford University Press).
Event Partners
Office of Government Procurement
Partner
The Office of Government Procurement commenced sourcing operations in 2014 and, together with four key sectors (Health, Local Government, Education and Defence), has taken responsibility for sourcing all goods and services on behalf of the public service. These operations are putting in place framework agreements and contracts so that public bodies can buy goods and services. In addition, the Office of Government Procurement has responsibility for procurement policy and procedures, sourcing systems and data analytics.
HSE
Partner
The HSE provides all of Ireland's public health services in hospitals and communities across the country to approximately 5.5.million people and is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the State. It is accountable for effective and compliant procurement that delivers value for money with security of supply. Procurement activities take place within a regulated environment underpinned by complex EU and national legislation.
Business Services Organisation
Partner
The Business Services Organisation has been established to provide a broad range of regional business support functions and specialist professional services to the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland. There are a wide range of reasons why you might have visited this website but we have identified frequent reasons why people do and have created various pages and links to other related websites that you may wish to use.
IntertradeIreland
Partner
InterTradeIreland has been helping small businesses in Ireland and Northern Ireland explore new cross-border markets, develop new products, processes and services and become investor ready for over two decades. Based in Newry, our services include supports for sales growth and innovation, plus funding and business insights for SMEs across the island who are looking to grow their business. Through our dedicated Brexit advisory service we also help companies to manage the new trading relationship between Britain and the EU, via a range of supports and services. InterTradeIreland has also introduced a number of specific Covid-19 supports focused around funding and recovery. As one of the cross-border bodies, InterTradeIreland is funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) and the Department for the Economy (DFE) in Northern Ireland.
Translink
Partner
To lead the transformation of transport in Northern Ireland: we will create the advanced public transport services and integrated networks which connect people and communities, enhance the economy and improve health and the environment.
Irish Rail
Partner
Iarnród Éireann provides passenger and freight rail services as well as operating Rosslare Europort.
Education Procurement Service (EPS)
Partner
The Education Procurement Service (EPS) is a leading provider of sourcing services for all Public Sector Bodies (PSBs) in the education sector. With a focus on categories such as Laboratory/Research Diagnostics, Services & Equipment, Agriculture and Veterinary Goods & Services, and Library Goods & Services, the EPS is committed to delivering sustainable, value for money, professional, and compliant procurement sourcing services that adhere to the policies and processes established by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). Through a whole life cycle cost approach, the EPS prioritises customer satisfaction and works closely with stakeholder groups to represent the unique needs of the education sector. The organisation plays an essential role in developing national frameworks and contracts, while also offering guidance on compliant performance aligned with national guidelines and EU Directives. The mission of the EPS is to support the Department of Education's central mission by representing education in the centralised procurement model, providing a sustainable and compliant procurement service to the public sector, and ensuring a positive customer experience. The EPS is dedicated to achieving excellence in sourcing, client and supplier engagement for all education-led categories across the public sector. Furthermore, the EPS is committed to implementing and promoting policies and procedures for national procurement across the education and training sector, enhancing procurement practices and delivering lasting value to its stakeholders.
Education Authority Northern Ireland
Partner
The Education Authority (EA) is an arms-length government body of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. It is responsible for providing education services for pre-school, primary and post primary schools across Northern Ireland, as well as providing an extensive youth service regionally. The EA Commercial Procurement Service (CPS) is a recognised CoPE (Centre of Procurement Expertise) who manage the procurement of a diverse range of supplies, services and works, with a total annual contract expenditure of £470 million and a live contract portfolio worth £1.4 billion.
Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC)
Partner
The Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC) which is based in Killarney, is a national shared service with responsibility for managing, developing and promoting procurement best practice under the Local Government sector-led categories of Plant Hire and Minor Building Works & Civils. It acts as a central purchasing body under the auspices of Kerry County Council, co-ordinating the establishment of National Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems for the procurement of works, goods and services under these categories to meet the needs of the local government and other public sector bodies.
The LGOPC maintains a dedicated public procurement portal at www.Supplygov.ie that provides an electronic platform for contracting Authorities to operate and manage the procurement of works, goods and services from suitably qualified Suppliers in a compliant and effective manner.
The arrangements currently in place by the LGOPC represent an estimated total annual spend in excess of €500m and engages more than 2,500 different suppliers, the majority of whom are micro and small enterprises.
Further details are available on www.Supplygov.ie.
Northern Ireland Local Government Association
Partner
The Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) is the council led representative body for local authorities in Northern Ireland. The Association is supported by political parties and independent members in councils, and works in partnership with other key regional bodies and stakeholders. NILGA members are drawn from each of the 11 councils.
The Association supports and represents NI Local Government’s interests on regional bodies, within the Local Government Group of Associations in the UK, ROI and in Europe.
Irish Social Enterprise Network (SocEnt)
Partner
Social Enterprise in Ireland has a home. We are here to help social enterprises, social entrepreneurs and social innovators in getting their idea off the ground and providing the supports to grow. We are here to build a network that will change and impact their social mission as well as foster an entrepreneurial sphere of passionate and groundbreaking models of social change. We are here to: Be an open and inclusive network for social enterprise social entrepreneurs and social innovators Provide and direct people to supports and training Help shape public policy Provide visibility and a channel for telling the stories of each enterprise, innovator, and entrepreneur A safe space for developing social enterprises, entrepreneurs and innovators
Social Enterprise Northern Ireland
Partner
Social Enterprise NI is the representative body for social enterprises and social entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland. Connecting, supporting, developing and sustaining vibrant businesses to create social change. We are an independent, member-led organisation and a gateway for social enterprises in Northern Ireland.
Road Safety Authority (RSA)
Partner
Our mission is to make Irish roads safer for everyone. That means working in every way possible to save lives and prevent injuries by helping to reduce the number and severity of collisions on Irish roads.
We are recognised as the leading voice for road safety in Ireland and as a leading voice internationally. This recognition is built upon a strong record of driving positive change in the attitudes and behaviours of all road users, while effectively collaborating with many stakeholders such as An Garda Síochána and the Health and Safety Authority to save lives.
Ulster University
Partner
We are a university with a national and international reputation for excellence, innovation and regional engagement, making a major contribution to the economic, social and cultural development of Northern Ireland.
Greenville Procurement Partners Ltd
Official Training Partner
Greenville Procurement Partners Ltd offers expert consultancy and training services relating to EU and national public procurement.
Our Consultancy Service is based on extensive experience gained over a 25-year period in supporting public sector and utility clients as well as bodies in receipt of public funds. A key feature of our service is our independence, assurance of confidentiality and guarantees around conflicts of interest. Our entire team of consultants have extensive direct experience in working within the regulated procurement environment prior to becoming procurement consultants ensuring they all have relevant experience in the award of the full range of supplies, works, services and concession contracts.
Our training is designed to support the obligations on regulated bodies to comply with complex European legislation, national regulations and circulars in relation to public procurement; and the responsibilities borne by staff tasked with the management of the procurement process.
Greenville’s mission is to support and inform, thereby arming procurement personnel with the tools to manage the three key procurement challenges of compliance, value for money and risk.
Recognising its clients’ diverse training requirements and the need for flexibility in the delivery of such training Greenville designs and delivers Open, In-House, Modular and Accredited courses.
Skills Zones
Sustainable Procurement
How can buyers and suppliers in Ireland’s public sector embed sustainability and social value into their contracts, adhere to environmental standards, and align their procurement strategies with the Irish Government’s Green Procurement Process and commitment to net-zero status by 2050?
Procurement Skills
What are the major changes facing public procurement across the island of Ireland, how can buyers and suppliers adapt to these changes, and what are the areas and skills procurement professionals need to focus on to ensure they can continue to deliver the goods and services the public relies on?
Market Engagement
What are Ireland’s leading public sector buyers looking for from suppliers, and how can those suppliers build a more effective engagement strategy with buyers that results in greater innovation among suppliers, and greater cost savings, efficiency and transparency for buyers?
Thank your to our 2024 Event Sponsors
ONA Water
Welcome to ONA Water, where sustainability and design elegantly combine to transform your everyday hydration experience. We are dedicated to providing premium water filtration and dispensing systems that meet the highest standards of quality and environmental consciousness.
Whether it’s for your home, office, hospitality, sports club, education setting, etc, ONA Water has the perfect solution for you.
We offer cost effective sustainable water dispensing & filtration systems which eliminate the need for single use bottled water.
AJ Products Ireland
Stand Location: 30
AJ Products designs workspaces where people can thrive.
Our focus is on innovation, efficiency and ergonomics, we create smart solutions for friction free workplaces.
The AJ Group have been operating for over 45 years and since launching in Ireland in 1999, we've been dedicated to making work more enjoyable. We now offer over 18,000 products for offices, industrial facilities, schools and more, helping to bring happiness to work.
Ahern Ireland
Stand Location: 34
Bio coming soon
Tork, an Essity brand
Stand Location: 9
Tork is the leading global brand in workplace hygiene. We are committed to giving all people equal access to sustainable hygiene solutions.
We design our solutions to lower carbon impact and reduce waste, making hygiene sustainable and easy for all.
We think ahead so that your organisation can thrive tomorrow.
www.tork.ie