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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

Fergal Grogan has worked in the Policy Unit in the Office of Government Procurement since 2019. The unit is tasked with delivering public procurement policy that supports Government priorities and societal needs. Fergal’s work focuses on promoting the participation of SMEs in public procurement, sustainable public procurement and innovation procurement. Fergal also oversaw the development of Circular 05/2023: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement.

Rita is the CEO of Shabra Group, a Fellow with the Athlone Institute of Technology, circle economy thought leader, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, and awardee of the 2023 NCBI Philanthropy Award. As CEO, Rita’s focus is on transforming Ireland and Africa’s approach to recycling and plastic reprocessing. Her vision is one of the building blocks of the circular economy and environmental best practices in Ireland. Rita’s strategy for growth and expansion enabled Shabra Recycling to be the premier reprocessing plant in Ireland and the only company that can support Ireland in meeting its legislative goals within the Deposit Return Scheme.

Duncan is an experienced consultant supporting social enterprises at all stages of their journey from start-up to scaling, and is passionate about Impact Measurement & Reporting, in particular helping organisations measure & manage their social value. He is currently the Head of Innovation Projects at FoodCloud, a non-profit social enterprise working to tackle the twin issues of food waste and food security. He is also the EU Projects Researcher at the Irish Social Enterprise Network and Director at Collaboration Ireland.

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).

A leader in STEM disciplines, TU Dublin also supports the largest cohort of students of business, media, culinary arts, and the creative and performing arts. We are passionate about life-long learning, and as the largest provider of part-time education, we make an important contribution to the economic life of Ireland, enabling capacity building for the future. Our distinguished researchers and innovators are pioneers in science and technology discovery; they play active roles in informing policy and standards; and contribute to the creative life of Ireland. Our award-winning technology transfer and business incubation activity have delivered over 400 sustainable news businesses with an economic value of almost €700 million.

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 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.

Jimmy is the co-founding director of NETpositive Futures Ltd and has worked on sustainability issues for over 25 years, helping a wide range of private and public sector organisations to integrate environmental and social considerations into business models and activities. Jimmy is an established expert on the issue of skills for sustainability and social value and uses his experience to make links between business improvement, sustainability and leadership. He has supported many organisations in taking the steps needed to turn policy into practical action and has supported organisations throughout Asia, South America and Europe.

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.

Maedbh Hillen is Head of Social Care 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. Maedbh has over 30 years Public Procurement experience in the Health and Social Care sector in NI. Maedbh has worked across a number of categories within Health and social care procurement including clinical and social care services.

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 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.

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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).