Procurement

Public procurement

The Irish public sector spends €10 billion per annum. Much of this expenditure is subject to public procurement law. The EU spends 16% of GDP on public contracts. Public procurement law is therefore an integral part of any full service law firm.

Procurement group

The ByrneWallace procurement team has a wealth of experience in both EU and Irish procurement and members of the team have been drawn from both the private and public sector. Our procurement group is headed by our Head of Projects, Mary Dunne. She is one of Europe's most experienced public procurement lawyers. Mary was formerly Head of Legal at the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) and spent two years on secondment to the Strategic Investment Board in Northern Ireland. She is currently an expert adviser to the OECD and EU Commission advising countries wishing to gain access to the European Union on PPP and Procurement Law. Brigid Greene came from the NDFA where she was responsible for running many procurements from the appointment of consultants to managing the procurement aspects of large PPP projects.

The team advises on the day-to-day management of procurements for a large number of Irish public sector bodies. They also specialise in the procurement of large capital and PPP projects. Mary's role as expert adviser to the OECD and EU Commission on procurement compliance for Accession States gives her access to the EU Commission at the highest level. The teams experience in working within the public sector gives their advice a practical edge that we believe is unique.

Procurement services

The key to good public procurement law advice is being able to apply commercial reality to a highly regulated and litigious area of law. We advise public and private sector bodies on the EU Directives and the implementing legislation in Ireland. However, we also advise on public sector guidelines in this area from Department of Finance and NPPPU guidelines to detailed guidelines specific to the body in question.

• Advising on the application of procurement rules and selection of appropriate procedures (i.e. negotiated, competitive dialogue, restricted, open)
• Advising on the drafting of all relevant tender documentation
• Managing the procurement process from OJEU Notice to financial close
• Advising on Irish and EU case law and challenges where there are grievances about the procedure
• Provision of procurement advice in PPP projects
• Advice on Green Public Procurement