Vol. 519 No. 5
142 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Finance if he will supply evidence that all the Irish Pensions Trust Ltd., reports referred to in the report of the Budget Strategy for Ageing Group were commissioned by open competition; and if he will supply the list of bidders and their prices. [14071/00]
I advise the Deputy that three reports-studies made by Irish Pensions Trust Limited (IPT) were referred to in the report of the Budget Strategy for Ageing Group: actuarial review of social welfare pensions, 1997; actuarial review of public service pensions, 1997; actuarial costing of pre-funding public service pension increases, 1999.
As the first report was commissioned by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, the supply of the relevant information on that report is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs.
The other two reports were commissioned by my Department on behalf of the Commission on Public Service Pensions. I can confirm that a competition was initiated in December 1996 to select consultants to carry out a full actuarial review of public service pensions, report No. 2 above. The commission invited seven pension consultancy firms to submit proposals for the project. Five proposals were received – two consultants did not tender. As part of the evaluation of the proposals, a committee of the commission met with each firm of consultants. The commission subsequently recommended that IPT be awarded the contract, and the Department accepted this recommendation. The names and proposed project fee submitted by the consultancy firms asked to tender were as follows:
|
Firms invited to tender |
Tenders received |
|
Buck Consultants |
Did not tender |
|
Coyle Hamilton Ltd |
£112,000 plus VAT |
|
Delaney Bacon and Woodrow |
£55,000 plus VAT |
|
Irish Pensions Trust Ltd |
£59,200 plus VAT |
|
KPMG Pensions and Actuarial Consulting |
Did not tender |
|
Mercer Ltd |
£99,000 plus VAT |
|
Watson Wyatt Ltd |
£200,000 plus VAT |
This was not an "open competition" in the sense that it was not publicly advertised. However, the tendering procedure followed – involving restricted rather than open tendering – was in line with usual public procurement procedures followed by Government Departments in relation to consultancy contracts of this nature.
The final amount paid to Irish Pensions Trust Limited for this contract was £101,400, plus VAT. The additional amount of £42,200 was considered necessary by the Commission on Public Service Pensions, with the agreement of this Department, for the purpose of enabling the consultants to meet the objectives of the actuarial review. The additional cost was primarily due to unforeseen deficiencies in the availability of the data required to be collected across the public service.
Report No. 3 above was included in a contract for a range of actuarial work carried out on behalf of the Commission of Public Service Pensions, commissioned in April 1999. The Department agreed, on foot of the commission's recommendation, to award this contract to IPT on the basis that (i) there was a particular urgency about the assignment, (ii) that as a result of its earlier work, IPT had available the range of data required and the computer software configured in a way to carry out the project, and had a detailed knowledge of public service pension terms, and that (iii) it was very unlikely that another consultant would be in a position to carry out the same work for a lesser fee. Thus, the contract, for £55,000 plus VAT, was awarded through a negotiated procedure on a single tender basis. As a result of carrying out additional work as part of the contract, a further £3,000 was paid to IPT, bringing the total value of the contract to £58,000.
