From: TASC
Progressive procurement can be at the core of building a fairer, greener economy. Too often public contracts are awarded on a narrow lowest cost basis – with little or no consideration for quality and social value.
A wider use and stronger weighting for quality criteria could raise standards in areas like environment and employment and deliver the greatest possible public benefit.
Join us this Thursday, March 25th at 10am for a discussion on the changes in law and practice needed to enable a more progressive public procurement framework in Ireland.
We will be joined by:
• Alice Mary Higgins, Independent NUI Senator, who has tabled a private members bill titled Quality in Public Procurement that aims to promote the use of social considerations and price-quality ratio as award criteria in public contracts.
• Dr. Deirdre Halloran, adjunct lecturer at NUI Galway whose research interests include EU public procurement regulation and finding ways to improve how member states implement social procurement.
• Kevin Callinan, General Secretary, Fórsa Trade Union and Vice-President of ICTU and chair of the Congress Public Services Committee.
The discussion will be moderated by Seán McCabe, Executive Manager of the TASC Climate Justice Centre.