Public-realm landscape contracts in Ireland route through eTenders.gov.ie. Contracts above EU thresholds also publish on Tenders Electronic Daily (TED). The current local-authority works threshold is €221,000; below-threshold landscape contracts (most parks-maintenance and Tidy Towns-funded planting) follow a lighter procurement path but re-use the same specification templates.
The procedural framework is EU Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement, transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016. Full specification format and IPM / GPP clause language is on the tender-writing playbook page; this guide focuses on the council buyer's day-to-day patterns.
The SuperValu TidyTowns competition biodiversity and sustainability categories increasingly evaluate pollinator habitat, peat-free planting practice and continuity of scheme. Community-led planting projects commonly source through their local authority's preferred-supplier list — and that list now requires plant-passport documentation and peat-free growing media as baseline criteria.
Practical procurement for Tidy Towns-scale planting (50–500 plants per scheme):
- Pollinator border (village centre, school grounds, GAA pitch). Lavandula 'Hidcote' + Geranium 'Czakor' + Cotoneaster dammeri — 60-pack trade trays via PlantGift's bulk plants collection.
- Hedge restoration (boundary, churchyard, school perimeter). Euonymus 'Green Spire' or Ilex crenata 'Jenny' for Buxus replacement — 24-, 48- and 60-plant trade trays at 9 cm.
- Bank stabilisation (riverside, embankment). Vinca minor, Hedera hibernica or Pachysandra at 4–7 plants/m² via the groundcover collection.
All 31 Irish local authorities reference the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan in current biodiversity tender criteria. The Pollinator Plan recommended-species list provides the audit-ready palette — see the native pollinator trade spec for the worked tender palette.
The standard council tender clause: "Planting palette to include a minimum of 30% species listed in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan recommended-species list." The 30% threshold is easy to meet on a mixed pollinator border (Lavandula + Geranium + Cotoneaster scores 100% Pollinator-Plan).
The European Commission's Green Public Procurement framework defines voluntary award criteria. For council landscape tenders, four GPP-aligned items consistently move the score:
- Peat-free growing media. Specify peat-free or peat-reduced — now baseline expectation.
- Pollinator percentage. 30%+ Pollinator-Plan recommended species.
- Year-1 establishment only. Specify that irrigation establishment ends after year 1, then the planting is expected to survive on rainfall alone (drives climate-adaptive palette selection).
- Provenance / plant passport. EU Regulation 2016/2031 plant passport for every consignment — standard supply from PlantGift.
Five council tender categories account for the majority of volume-plant procurement:
- Parks-maintenance contract planting. Annual re-supply of pollinator borders and bank groundcover. Net-30 billing standard on established local-authority accounts.
- Town centre regeneration. Mixed pollinator and evergreen low-hedge planting — typically 200–2,000 plants per project.
- Cycle path & greenway landscape. Linear groundcover and pollinator-strip planting along National Cycle Network routes.
- School & community-centre biodiversity grants. Small (50–300 plant) pollinator-border and hedge-restoration projects, often Tidy Towns-coordinated.
- Council heritage gardens. Parterre and walled garden restoration — see the estate gardens guide.
