Ossian Smyth is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as a Minister of State since July 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 2020. Smyth was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council for the Dún Laoghaire local electoral area at the 2014 local election. He served as Cathaoirleach of the County Council from 2018 to 2019. He was re-elected to the council at the 2019 local election, and at the general election in February 2020, he was elected as a TD for Dún Laoghaire. Following the formation of a new government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, Smyth was appointed as a Minister of State on 1 July 2020. He was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment and Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy.

Paul Quinn is the Chief Procurement Officer with the Office ofi Government Procurement (OGP). The OGP is an office of the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform. Paul joined the Civil Service in 2013 as Government’s first Chief Procurement Officer overseeing the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), which leads procurement transformation across the public sector. The Irish Government spends approx. €17 billion per annum through public procurement. The OGP is the national authority for public procurement in Ireland providing the policy framework, procurement systems, and supports for stakeholders. It is also a Central Purchasing Body providing a broad range of buying solutions to public service bodies for commonly used goods and services. Paul previously worked in the telecommunications industry, holding senior management roles in shared services, engineering, ICT and change management.

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. 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 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 £1.2bn 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 22 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 is a highly accomplished leader, with extensive experience as a senior manager in the public and private sectors. As the EPS Director and Head of Sourcing Education, he has been instrumental in revolutionising procurement within higher education. Under his leadership, the Education Procurement Service (EPS) has evolved into a national procurement consortium, representing all Higher Education Institutions and serving as a sector-sourcing hub under the National Procurement model. Philip's expertise lies in developing and implementing change management strategies for the public sector, with a focus on enhancing procurement compliance through meticulous planning, strong partner engagement, and targeted communications. A firm believer in achievement through partnership, consensus, and shared responsibility, he has cultivated a robust team ethic within the EPS. As a representative of Education on the Office of Government Procurement executive and board, he plays a pivotal role in shaping the national procurement model to meet the evolving needs of the education sector.

Mags O’Callaghan is the Project Manager for the new national eProcurement Platform, eTenders. Mags has over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector, leading teams and functions in a variety of industries. Since early 2021, Mags has led the project to specify procure and implement a new contract for the national eProcurement platform, eTenders. Following extensive stakeholder consultation and a comprehensive tendering process, a new supplier was selected. The project team is working with partners from across the public service and commercial semi-state bodies to ensure a smooth transition. The new platform will go live 15 May 2023.

Sam Waide is the Chief Executive Officer of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) in Ireland. As part of the Vision Zero 2050 challenge to have zero fatalities on our roads, Sam is leading on the delivery of the Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, working in partnership with key agencies to achieve Programme for Government outcomes of 50 per cent reduction in serious injuries and fatalities by 2030. Previously, Sam held the position of Executive Director of Operations and Board Member of the Business Services Organisation within the Health and Social Care sector, in addition to private sector leadership roles.

Senior Procurement Manager, ICT Commodities, BSO Procurement and Logistics Service. I have worked in procurement for Health and Social Care for over 18 years. During my time in Procurement in HSC I have worked in both Operations and Sourcing Roles covering a wide range of Categories.

Senior Procurement Manager, ICT Projects, BSO Procurement and Logistics Service. I have worked in procurement for Health and Social Care for approx. 6 years. I have worked in various Regional Category Sourcing roles within HSC during those 6 years gaining a breadth of knowledge.

Colin joined Social Enterprise NI in 2016 as Chief Executive following over 30 years in local banking. Through this Colin has developed a significant network across all sectors which has proved invaluable in this role, enabling the social economy to grow and be recognised as an important player across the NI economy. Colin is a former Council Member of NI Chamber of Commerce and in December 2020 was appointed by the then Finance Minister to the reconstituted Procurement Board as a sector representative, with his input resulting in the publication of Public Procurement Notes in respect of the mandatory scoring of Social Value and the usage of Reserve Contracts .

Jeannie McCann is a Social Value Advisor at the NI Strategic Investment Board. She advises the public sector in NI on opportunities to maximise the Social Value for Services contracts. This includes providing guidance and training on the NI Executive’s recently introduced policy which mandates the scoring of Social Value as part of award criteria. Before joining SIB, Jeannie worked in civil society for 12 years, including most recently at Trócaire where she led its Business & Human Rights advocacy campaign in NI. She is a Fellow of the Social Change Initiative where her research focused on protecting human rights in public procurement. Jeannie is passionate about the potential of government spending power to create change by providing jobs and training, protecting human rights and the environment, and promoting health and wellbeing.

Sustainable energy specialist Marty Drumm helps public sector bodies drive cost effective decarbonisation – to deliver on their net zero ambitions. His energy industry career spans more than 22 years. During this time, he has partnered with organisations of all types to design and implement low carbon energy strategies that balance both commercial and environmental goals. In his current role he develops and builds strategic partnerships within the public sector. Marty has vast experience of developing, funding, and managing large and complex integrated energy saving projects across both public and private sector. This delivery partnership includes supporting the accelerated delivery of multi-asset, estate-wide projects within tight deadlines and in accordance with grant programmes and procurement frameworks.

Andrea works for the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) where she advises public sector bodies across Northern Ireland on approaches to maximise social value requirements within ICT contracts. Andrea has also recently completed her position as Visiting Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. Prior to her role with SIB, Andrea worked within public sector bidding for over 8 years developing bid solutions for a variety of professional services and facilities management contracts, and advising on bid strategies, training and governance processes. Andrea is also a qualified barrister in Northern Ireland and a Board member of NOW Group, a social enterprise supporting people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs with a future.

David Lawlor is a Category Manager in the Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC) operating under the auspices of Kerry County Council. David is responsible for the development, implementation, management and establishment of multi-party Central Procurement Arrangements in the local government led procurement categories of Plant Hire and Minor Building Works & Civils. David is an accomplished procurement professional with 18 years’ experience in both private and public sector strategic procurement and digital procurement solutions.

Micheál Finucane is Category Manager and Deputy Head of the Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (LGOPC) operating under the auspices of Kerry County Council. Micheál is responsible for the design, development, implementation, and management of sourcing strategies in the local government led procurement categories of Plant Hire and Minor Building Works & Civils. Micheál is an accomplished global supply chain and procurement professional with over 15 years’ experience in both private and public sector strategic procurement, deployment of digital procurement & supply chain technologies, tender analytics and global supply chain risk management. Micheál has led the development and implementation, on Supplygov.ie, of many large digitised national strategic sourcing strategies, including the Plant Hire Dynamic Purchasing System – one of the largest Dynamic Purchasing Systems in the state, the Framework Agreement for minor building works on residential properties and the award-winning Dynamic Purchasing System for energy efficiency retrofitting works.

Charles Mitchell is the Senior Quantity Surveying Technical Advisor to the Office of Government Procurement and a Government observer to the Agreed Rules of Measurement (ARM) Committee. Charles is a Fellow of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) with in excess of 20 years’ experience within the construction sector. Previously a member of the SCSI Quantity Surveying professional group, Charles was involved in numerous working groups including the Mechanical and Electrical working groups and is currently a representative to the Standard Setting Committee of the International Cost Management Standards (ICMS). Charles was also a lecturer in TUDublin, specialising in Quantification and Costing of construction project, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).