Ireland's Ministry of State for Public Procurement has announced the signing of the Concessions Directive (2014/23/EU) into Irish law – SI 203 of 2017.  This follows extensive engagement by Ministry with the European Commission and national stakeholders.

This signing effectively establishes a new public procurement regime for large-scale complex public contracts, encompassing both services and capital works requirements.

In Ireland concessive-type contracts are mainly associated with public private partnerships (PPPs).  PPPs have been used over the past two decades to deliver major infrastructural projects such as national toll roads and the expansion of the national inter-urban roads network.

Following the signing, Minister Murphy noted that,

“At a time when Ireland is continuing to ramp up critical infrastructure investment, this new regime will assist public bodies in meeting their procurement needs. This is particularly the case where these needs can be met using contracts which generally feature an extended duration and a mix of public and private financing.  In this regard, transposing the Directive into Irish law focuses on maximising the flexibility in procurement which the Concessions Directive brings to this area of public expenditure.”