In response to Covid-19 the Office of Government Procurement developed guidance to assist procurement practitioners in managing procurements where urgency was required at the start of the pandemic. For further information please click here.
Works and Works-related Services – a separate ‘Note on procurement and contractual matters associated with the Covid-19 Response Measures’ has been published on the Construction Procurement Reform website. For further information please click here.
The Office of Government Procurement.
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eTenders is the Irish Government’s electronic tendering platform administered by the Office of Government Procurement.
The platform is a central facility for all public sector contracting authorities to advertise procurement opportunities and award notices. For procurement news and for guidance, legislation, and circulars under the National Public Procurement Policy Framework, please visit ogp.gov.ie
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Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement
Circular 20/2019 highlights the Government’s priority in promoting Green Public Procurement in the context of the wider commitments under the Climate Action Plan. The Circular instructs Departments/Offices to consider the inclusion of green criteria in their procurements. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is developing this criteria which will support the effective implementation of this initiative. There will be a phased introduction of green criteria across Government and Public Sectors targeting priority products and services as well as building appropriate green criteria into the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) frameworks as they arise, and providing support and guidance to procurers. The circular can be accessed here.
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Information Security
The Office of Government Procurement would like to remind Contracting Authorities to remain vigilant in relation to malicious emails, web links and phone calls. There has been increased activity recently by cyber criminals attempting to gain unauthorised access to carry out fraud and harvest usernames, passwords, bank details and other personal information. Be especially wary of any unsolicited emails relating to refunds, delivery updates, invoices and procurement contract award notices.
If an attempted fraud is suspected, please escalate within your own organisation and report to An Garda Síochána if required. Please refer to An Garda Síochána information page on cyber security by clicking HERE
Office of Government Procurement.
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Moving from paper ESPD form to the electronic version on eTenders (eESPD)
The integrated electronic ESPD service is now available on eTenders which meets the requirements of European legislation and will replace the paper ESPD. The eESPD will allow buyers to issue an ESPD request form as part of an above threshold (OJEU) procedure and enable suppliers to submit an ESPD response. Click HERE for further details.
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eTenders Data Protection Statement
The eTenders Data Protection Statement is to inform users of this platform how their personal data is handled and their privacy rights. Information is provided on how personal data is processed through use of this platform including any personal data provided when registering as a user or taking part in a tender competition on the platform.
Users can read the Data Protection Statement by clicking HERE
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Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) on eTenders
The Dynamic Purchasing (DPS) service is now available on eTenders for all contracting authorities. Click HERE for the guidance material.
Dynamic Purchasing is a completely electronic process which may be established by a contracting authority to purchase commonly used goods, works or services which are generally available on the market. The DPS is a two-stage procurement process. Firstly, the contracting authority can set up a DPS qualification using the electronic ESPD service and to create and manage DPS Tenders at the second stage. All economic operators who meet the selection criteria at qualification are admitted onto the DPS Tender stage. The dynamic nature of the DPS allows suppliers to apply to join at any point during its lifetime.
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Tender Opening Protocol on eTenders
The Tender Opening Protocol service is now available on eTenders for all contracting authorities. Click HERE for the guidance material.
The Tender Opening Protocol is new functionality available for the Contracting Authority (CA) to report on submissions received via the electronic tender-box on eTenders. The protocol captures date & time for the opening of tenders and shows the authorised persons nominated within the CA for the electronic opening procedure. It lists all supplier responses submitted before the closing deadline with date and time stamps for each submission.
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Questions and Answers (Q&A) Service on eTenders
The Q&A service is now available in eTenders for all contracting authorities (CAs). This service can be switched on for CAs on request only from CA administrators. Please email etenders@eu-supply.com. This service is designed to manage the pre-closing clarification process as an alternative to the current messaging facility on eTenders. CAs should refer to the guidance material by clicking HERE
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Tender Advisory Service
The Tender Advisory Service (TAS) was established by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) in consultation with SME stakeholders, to address concerns in relation to perceived barriers for SMEs in competing for tender opportunities. TAS is an informal outlet, provided free of charge, to suppliers in order to raise concerns in relation to a live tender process carried out by the OGP or other public sector contracting bodies.
TAS can be used by individuals and companies in the following circumstances:
- where a Request for Tender (RFT) has been published;
- the supplier must have registered an interest in a specific live tender process;
- the supplier has sought answers to their queries through the normal clarification process with the Contracting Authority; and
- where the supplier is not satisfied with the response from the contracting authority
Click HERE for further details.
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Supplier Registration
Electronic tendering will be a European requirement in the near future. To register as a new user from a Supplier Company, first check to see if your company is already registered. If your company is registered then your company’s eTenders Administrator will register you as a new user on the site. If you need assistance verifying if your company is registered please contact support. To register a New Supplier Company, please click on SUPPLIER COMPANY REGISTRATION in the menu to the left.
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Notice to Buyers
On 18th August 2014, eTenders released new features to assist Buyers with entering award details for all tenders both above and below threshold. This is a separate step to publishing awards on OJEU. Buyers must enter award details and value for all tenders in respect of all competition types including mini-competitions. This is in accordance with Circular 10/2014.
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Buyer Registration
Electronic tendering will be a European requirement in the near future. To register as a new Public Sector Buyer, please contact your organisation’s eTenders administrator or if registering as a new Contracting Authority, please Complete the registration form which is available by clicking HERE (Save the file to your computer first and then open it). Please email the completed form to the eTenders helpdesk at buyer-request@eu-supply.com
o If you are publishing the tender on behalf of a third-party then a buyer account needs to be created for that third-party client.
o Schools should always be the contracting authority not the Architect, Engineer or Consultant contracted to do the work.
o School principal and all other authorities should always approve by email to buyer-request@eu-supply.com that an architect can be added to their account as company user.
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eTenders Assistance
For assistance:
· Email the helpdesk on
· Call us on +353 (0)21 243 92 77 during office hours (09:00am – 17:30pm GMT)
