Country kit
Bidding in Ireland: the country kit
What a company from another country needs to know before it bids for a public contract in Ireland.
Not legal advice. Rules and portals change: check the buyer's documents and the official portal.
Written notes last reviewed on November 15, 2026.
For a bidder from abroad
What a company from another country usually runs into. Each line names where you can check it.
- Portals
-
Public bodies publish on eTenders, the national platform, and most take the bid there.
Check it at eTenders
- Account to submit
-
To submit you need an account on the platform the notice names. Open it days ahead: some platforms check a new company by hand.
Check it at eTenders
- Electronic signature
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A qualified electronic signature is usually not required: in most procedures the bid counts as it is sent through the platform. The documents say when a signature is wanted.
Check it at eTenders
- ESPD and eCertis
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The European Single Procurement Document is accepted as a first proof that you are suitable; here it is called European Single Procurement Document (ESPD). eCertis shows which certificates of your own country match the ones asked for.
Check it at eCertis (European Commission)
- Registers and lists
-
There is no list to join before bidding. The successful bidder needs a tax clearance certificate from Revenue; a company not established in Ireland asks Revenue for one as a non-resident, or the documents say what it gives instead.
Check it at Revenue, tax clearance
- Language of the bid
-
Bids are usually written in English. Certificates in another language usually need a translation; the documents say whether it has to be certified.
Check it at eTenders
From the register
Counted from the notices Aperlena reads. These lines change as the register does.
- Sources we read
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Notices above the EU thresholds also arrive through TED, the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily.
- Open now
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473 open notices. See them
Busiest sectors: Architecture & engineering services (104), Business services (100), Construction work (94)
- Time to bid
-
Open procedure above the EU thresholds: usually 21 to 33 days from publication to the deadline (median: 29, from 6,324 notices).
Open procedure below the EU thresholds: usually 21 to 31 days from publication to the deadline (median: 24, from 2,347 notices).
- Language of the notices
- English
- Currency
- Amounts are stated in euros (EUR).
- Working days
-
Deadlines on Aperlena count working days on the national calendar of Ireland: Monday to Friday, without the national public holidays. Regional holidays are not counted.
The next national holidays on a weekday: , , ,
After the award
Not legal advice. The periods run from the day the decision is sent to you. Check your award letter and national law before you rely on any of them.
- Standstill period
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Usually 14 calendar days from the day after the decision was sent (16 when it was not sent electronically).
The buyer usually may not sign the contract before it ends.
- Time to challenge
-
Usually 30 calendar days from the day after the decision was sent.
- Review body
- High Court
- Rule
- S.I. No. 130 of 2010, regs. 5 and 7
The periods are the ones for contracts above the EU thresholds. Below them national rules differ, and some awards have no standstill at all.
On the page of an awarded notice the periods are counted from its award date, with a letter asking the buyer for its reasons. Awarded contracts in Ireland