The Social Element of Sustainable Civil Engineering Public Procurement in Northern Ireland
Dr. Robert Eadie, Ms. Clare McKeown, Mr. Ken Anderson

Abstract
Sustainable development was first introduced by Dyllick & Hockerts (2002), their vision defined sustainable development as a share of the key components. There is evidence to show that sustainable development is proposed and concluded without complete regard to the social element. Therefore this research demonstrates current misconceptions in the corporate social responsibility clauses in Northern Ireland's public sector procurement. The research comes in two components initially a literature review of procurement social policy for Northern Ireland. Secondly, a questionnaire study reports on the views of public sector procurement personnel. The findings show that although the European Union wish to create a collaborative network of social solutions and best practice, the current practice in Northern Ireland's public procurement is an assortment of standards that may not be best suited to achieving the social component of sustainable development.

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