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Departmental Contracts

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2013

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Questions (153, 157, 163, 180)

Pat Deering

Question:

153. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the tender for the payment of entitlements on behalf of her Department; when a decision will be made in relation to the awarding of this contract, if she will take into consideration the impact on jobs, convenience and professional standards that are currently being provided by An Post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3926/13]

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Regina Doherty

Question:

157. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the tender for the payment of entitlements on behalf of her Department; when a decision is being made in relation to the awarding of this contract; if she will take into consideration the impact on jobs, convenience and professional standards that are currently being provided by An Post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3925/13]

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Anthony Lawlor

Question:

163. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details on the tendering process due to commence when the current contract with An Post for the payment of welfare customers expires on the 31 December 2013; when a decision will issue in relation to the awarding of this contract; if she will take into consideration the impact on jobs, convenience and professional standards that are currently being provided by An Post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3927/13]

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Derek Keating

Question:

180. Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the tender for the payment of entitlements on behalf of her Department; when a decision will be made in relation to the awarding of this contract; if she will take into consideration the impact on jobs, convenience and professional standards that are currently being provided by An Post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3918/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 153, 157, 163 and 180 together.

Public sector contracts for the supply of products and services are generally subject to a competitive tendering process. This ensures that the taxpayer receives value for money and ensures that all potential suppliers are given the opportunity to put forward the most efficient, effective and competitive solutions for consideration and evaluation. The award of public sector contracts with a significant financial value is subject to various EU Directives. Because of the financial value of this particular service, the Department is required to publicly advertise for the procurement of cash services before entering into a new contract for the delivery of social welfare payments to customers around the country.

The current contract with An Post expires on 31st December, 2013. In anticipation of this, the Department is undertaking two public procurement competitions this year for the delivery of welfare payments. The first request for tenders was publicly advertised on 20th December 2012. The Tender is seeking over the counter cash services for social welfare customers who are currently in receipt of payments through the post office network. The contract term will be for a period of two years, which may be reviewed annually, up to six years in aggregate. The closing date for receipt of Tenders is 18th February 2012. All Tenders received in response to this procurement competition will be evaluated on the basis of criteria outlined in the Request for Tender including the quality of their proposed approach for customer service, suitable logistical arrangements to ensure all customers are on time, in full; the quality of their proposed arrangements for the prevention of fraud; and the quality of their proposals for financial and contract management. The outcome of this public procurement competition will give rise to a contract to ensure continuity in the delivery of cash payments to the Department’s almost one million customers, whilst also putting in place arrangements to facilitate the transition from cash payments to electronic payments.

Deputies will be reassured to know that any concerns regarding convenient access for customers to payment outlets and the standards of the services they can expect to receive in drawing their welfare payments have been specifically identified in the published Tender. I anticipate that a contract will be awarded on foot of this procurement in Quarter 2 of 2013.

To supplement existing levels of payments made directly into customer accounts in financial institutions, the Department also advertised their intention to undertake a second procurement later this year. This will support the progression over time from cash payments to increasing levels of electronic payments to customers. The Department envisages a situation where all payments to our customers will be paid electronically. This is in line with the Government policies and objectives such as better public services and to improve the efficiency of the national payments environment. These objectives are aligned to the objectives of the National Payments Plan. The second procurement to be undertaken for the provision of an ePayment solution, which will complement the existing Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments into financial institutions will be published before the end of June 2013.

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