Vol. 457 No. 5
65 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Education the consultants who were appointed by her Department since 16 December 1994; if they were appointed following a tendering procedure; if the consultant appointed in each case was the lowest tenderer; and if not, who the lowest tenderer was. [15705/95]
Details of consultants appointed by my Department in 1995 up to 18 October 1995 were supplied to Dáil Éireann in written replies on 27 June 1995 — No. 109 — and on 18 October 1995 — No. 96. Since then no consultants have been appointed by my Department.
A number of the smaller consultancy contracts were awarded in accordance with Government procurement procedures whereby specialists can be appointed to undertake a study, subject to a limit of £5,000, without a tendering process.
For contracts greater than £5,000 tenders were invited and appointments made strictly in accordance with Government procedures. The consultancy firms appointed in all cases, apart from one exception, had submitted the lowest overall tender. In one case the accepted tender was the lowest of four tenders received in terms of cost per day but not the lowest in overall costs. However, the tender represented the best value for money and was the most appropriate one having regard to the evaluation criteria.
In accordance with normal tendering practice, it would be inappropriate to give the details of any of the unsuccessful tenders.
