Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
735. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the necessary hand sanitiser, deep cleaning of their buildings and personal protective equipment, PPE, equipment for schools will be sourced centrally. [20854/20]
View answerOn 14th June the Department published a Request for Information (RFI) to identify PPE, Consumables and Equipment Suppliers to support the Education Sector. This procurement has been managed as a negotiated procedure under Article 32 for the 2016 Procurement Regulations in order to secure supplies in time to reopen the Sectors schools and institutions.
The process has identified a number of suppliers that are capable of providing the full suite of core products required by the return to school roadmap and this is considered the most favourable solution to meet the aggregated needs of the number and geographic spread of Educational Institutions – including schools - right across the State.
The Government has just published the Roadmap for the Full Return to School which outlines how schools will reopen from the end of August. It also outlines how schools will be able to access their PPE requirements from suppliers (under the Education Sector supply agreement) from early August in advance of reopening. Further guidance will issue to the Sector once the procurement process is complete.
