Public Procurement Contracts Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 February 2019

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Questions (692)

Niall Collins

Question:

692. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of State contracts that were not awarded to the lowest tender or bid in each year since 2011 to date in his Department or bodies under the aegis of his Department; the reason the lowest tender or bid was not chosen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8804/19]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government

The information requested in respect of the Department is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.

Arrangements have been put in place by each agency under the aegis of the Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. The contact email addresses for each agency are set out as follows:

Agency	E-mail address
An Bord Pleanála	[e-mail]
Ervia, Gas Networks Ireland	[e-mail]
Housing Sustainable Communities Agency	[e-mail]
Housing Finance Agency	[e-mail]
Irish Water	[e-mail]
Local Government Management Agency	[e-mail]
Ordnance Survey Ireland	[e-mail]
Property Registration Authority	[e-mail]
Pyrite Resolution Board	[e-mail]
Residential Tenancies Board	[e-mail]
Valuation Office	[e-mail]

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A

From the records available to me, there was one contract exceeding €500,000 awarded by my Department under competitive tendering processes since 2011, which was not awarded to the lowest tender or bid. In this case the contract was awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT).

The most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) is the tender which, following assessment of the award criteria, is the most beneficial to the contracting authority and represents value for money. This typically means a combination of price and quality where quality might include factors such as delivery date or period of completion, delivery process, running costs and technical merit. The contracting authority decides the relative weightings in relation to price and quality.

Details of the relevant contract are set out in the following table:

Year	Details of Contracts (over 500k) where lowest tender not chosen	Reason lowest tender not chosen
2016	Micromail - for Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Licensing	Awarded to Most Economically Advantageous Tender