Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
413. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport the status in respect of evaluations regarding the search and rescue contract; the name of the independent company and-or person that has been used to evaluate and-or advise on the tenders received; and the amount paid to the person and-or company in respect of their work to date. [20021/21]
View answerA mid-term assessment of the CHCI IRCG contract was conducted in 2018 which covered a variety of performance issues relating to the contract and it also included the identification of issues and lessons to be taken into consideration in relation to a successor service. The assessement includes commerically senstive information and is not published. It has however been used as an important input to the considerations on the next successor service.
The assessment was conducted by Aerossurance Ltd, who were appointed by my Department in 2017, following an open procurement process, as aviation consultants for the Coast Guard. Their services include the provision of advice in connection with the Search and Rescue helicopter contract and related matters including future projects, contractual compliance and assistance in tender assessment.
Since Aerossurance were appointed in 2017, they have been paid the amount of €246,371 to date for their consultancy services generally for the IRCG. These services are much wider than the mid term assessment.
The Deputy refers to evaluation and advice in relation to tenders. Aerossurance Ltd, as the aviation consultants for the Coast Guard, is also working as part of the Project Team for the development of the new IRCG Aviation service. Since we are still at pre-tender stage, the question of evaluation or advice on specific tenders does not arise.
On this specific process, the Deputy will be aware from previous PQs on the matter, this process commenced in late 2019 to consider options for the next Search and Rescue Aviation contract as the existing contract comes to an end over the coming years. A Strategic Assessment and Preliminary Appraisal was conducted as a first step in the Publlic Spending Code process which went to Government in July 2020.
KPMG were subsequently appointed, in early November, to carry out the detailed business/economic assessment in line with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. This will be brought to Government in the next couple of months, after which a formal tender procedure will commence.
The current status of the procurement process can be referenced in the Published eTenders update on eTenders and our SAR Webpage
