Gareth Morton, National Director of Procurement at the Health Service Executive (HSE), joins the judging panel for the National Procurement Awards 2026, bringing the most significant public procurement brief in Ireland to a programme that celebrates excellence across the full spectrum of Irish procurement leadership.

As National Director of Procurement at the State's largest purchaser, Gareth leads strategic procurement across a function with an annual spend of approximately €5.4 billion. Operating within the complex regulatory landscape of EU and national public procurement legislation, he is responsible for large-scale, compliant procurement strategies that deliver value for money while maintaining security of supply across Ireland's health and social care system.

Central to his work is the leadership of a national team driving procurement efficiencies that directly empower frontline staff to provide high-quality patient care. That alignment between procurement outcomes and patient impact gives the HSE's procurement function a clarity of purpose that extends well beyond cost management. Gareth ensures procurement initiatives align with wider organisational goals, strengthening supply chain resilience across the health system while maintaining the transparency that public procurement demands.

His commitment to advancing the Green Public Procurement agenda reflects the growing importance of sustainable procurement within the public sector. By aligning procurement practices with the HSE's Climate Action Strategy, he has positioned responsible sourcing as a core dimension of the function, not a secondary consideration alongside commercial performance.

Gareth's cross-border collaboration through the Procurement CAWT Group, an EU-funded partnership between the health and social care services of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and his partnership with GS1 Ireland on supply chain efficiency and visibility standards, further reflect a practitioner operating at the intersection of procurement innovation, public policy, and cross-jurisdictional health system development.

His appointment to the judging panel brings both the scale of Ireland's largest public procurement function and a personal commitment to procurement excellence and public procurement reform that will strengthen the evaluation process at the National Procurement Awards 2026.

The National Procurement Awards 2026 gala takes place on 22nd October at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry.

View the full list of judges here procurementawards.ie/judges, and subscribe to the newsletter to stay up to date with announcements, shortlists, and event news.