Departmental Contracts

Wednesday, 26 January 2022

Questions (107)

Réada Cronin

Question:

107. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Defence the details of the tendering process used by his Department for State contracts granted in relation to Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic; the name of each company, the services involved; the amount paid to each company in each of the relevant years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4227/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Defence

The detailed information sought by the Deputy is not readily available within the time frame sought. At the request of my Department the military authorities are conducting the search, retrieval and collation of same. I will arrange to have this information forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to the above-referenced Parliamentary Question for which it was not possible to provide a reply within the available timeframe.

The Department of Defence and the Defence Forces procure a wide range of non-capital goods and services. These include items associated with day-to-day operations such as food, clothing, transport, utilities and the maintenance of equipment. The services of the Office of Government Procurement and centralised framework agreements are also used to acquire items that may be in common demand by a number of Departments.

My Department complies with the relevant procurement rules for the acquisition of any Covid -19 related supplies in line with the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and Public Procurement Information Note issued by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) in March 2020 and updated in September 2021. Central to those rules and procedures is the requirement to allow fair competition through the e-tenders website and the Official Journal of the European Union, where appropriate, in line with the European Union procurement Directives. Details of tender competitions can be accessed on the Government's e-tenders website www.etenders.ie . Tenders are published on an ongoing basis by my Department and the Defence Forces.

In 2020 when the Covid crisis emerged, the Department (including the Military Authorities) found itself in a position where a twin-track response to the crisis emerged. In the first instance the State’s contingent defence capability as delivered by the Defence Forces had to be maintained and secondly measures were required to ensure that elements of the Defence Forces and the Civil Defence were in a position to provide frontline services to complement the overall national response to the crisis.

In order to consolidate all spending in relation to Covid-19, a costing code was used to capture all spending across the various delegated subheads. This was implemented in March 2020, and continues to capture this spending as the pandemic continues. The Defence Forces and the Department of Defence total spend on contracts in excess of €25,000 including contractor’s names and services provided are set out in the tables below. These contracts include a number of existing contracts as well as one off purchases of goods.

Defence Forces :

The Defence Forces spent a total of €5,084,483 on Covid-19 related procurement as set out in Table 1 below:

Table 1

Vendor Name	Services Provided	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2020	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2021	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2022
LUSK MOTOR FACTORS LTD T/A SWORDS MOTOR Factor	PPE / Gloves / Wipes / Hands sanitizer	€26749	€0	€0
FURNITURE CLEARANCE CENTRE LTD	Mattresses	46,370
ENDA MULFAUL T/A GROUSEHALL FURNITURE	Chairs / Tables	120,005
ARCON CONSULTANTS	Disinfectant / Pressure Sprayers	96,410
CRS RENT A FRIDGE LTD	Container ISO Refrigerated x 3	368,425
AQUILA BIOSCIENCE LTD	Decontamination Wipes	62,258
ELIS TEXTILES SERVICES LTD	Laundry Services	20,881	36,027	3,194
CONOR BROWNE WREATHS	Spirigel 500 Ml Bottles	36,900
FARRELL BROTHERS (ARDEE) LTD	Desks / Wardrobes / Pedestals	36,322
SEMAD	LTD Hand Cleaner Gel / Sanitiser Wipes / Spirigel Bottle / Spirigel 5 Ltr	33,086
CODEX LTD T/A CODEX OFFICE SOLUTIONS	Spirigel 500 Ml Bottle	26,015
MEDINA PROMOTIONS T/A COSMETIC CREATIONS LTD	Spirigel	25,928
SHERRY TEXTILES LTD T/A LINEN DIRECT	Pillow Cases / Quilt Covers / Sheets	25,233
SPERRIN METAL PRODUCTS LTD	Lockers	25,033
GAS & CONTROLS	CO2 Monitors		123,000
CREATIVE ACTIVITY	Supply of hand sanitiser	50,000
RIDGEDALE CONSTRUCTION	Preparatory / Electrical works for use as DF quarantine locations or for transfer to the HSE – Coolmoney, Kilbride, Glen of Imaal	112,501
CHUBB IRELAND LTD	Upgrades to the Fire Detection and Alarm system to prepare wards in St. Bricins for use as DF quarantine locations or for transfer to the HSE.	66,171
G DUFFY BUILDLING CONTRACTORS LTD	Works to the Band Hall to ensure compliance with Covid regulations in place at that time, Custume Barracks, Athlone	38,817
KENNETH KEANE ELECTRICAL	Preparatory works on emergency lighting for use as DF quarantine locations or for transfer to the HSE - Kilbride/St Bricins	31,315
HSE-DUBLIN MID LEINSTER	Funds Transfer Request PPE Costs - HBS Procurement HSE	669,324
TAILORED IMAGE LTD	Face Covering Black	270,695	190,404
MERVUE LABORATORIES LTD	Gel Hand Cleaner Personal	317,955
IPPG GIFTS LTD T/A IDENTITY PROMOTIONS	Visor Full Face Disposable / Face Masks	202,950
BUNZL CLEANING & SAFETY SUPPLIES	Facemasks / Gloves/ Respirators / Wipes	111,172	25,000
JW BALFOUR LTD	Facemasks / Laundry Bags / Disposable Gloves	89,200	,
UNIPHAR WHOLESALE	Disposable Face Masks	70,725
OFFICE DEPOT (IRELAND) LTD	Gel Hand Cleaner Personal	49,446
DANIEL TECHNOLOGIES	Gel Hand Cleaner Personal / Spectacles Safety	25,535
HIBERNIA EVROS TECHNOLOGY GROUP	Communication Equipment	292,430
BUTLER TRANSTEST LTD T/A BUTLER TECHNOLOGIES	Radio Equipment	171,927
MJ FLOOD IRELAND LTD	Computer Laptops	161,536
TELENT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES LTD IRL	Device Ambulance Patient Care Record / Mobile Data Terminal	160,408
VOYAGER IP INTERNATIONAL SERVICES LTD	Cellular Solution Construction & equipment	180,608
SIGMA WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS LTD	Motorola Radio Equipment	93,813
EDUCOM LTD	McKee Covid JTF Installation / TVs LG etc	47,397
KEDINGTON COMPONENTS	IT Storage equipment	32,084
CLUB TRAVEL LTD	Flights home for serving members and their families at onset of pandemic	97,104	9,219
OMAN MOVING & STORAGE T/A BOND BUSINESS SUPPORT LTD	Household items for serving members and their families shipped home by aOman.	39,398
ACA INTERNATIONAL	PPE for Missions	30,990	5,461
CRUINN DIAGNOSTICS LTD	Covid Tests / Machine PCR Real Time / Cepheid Gene Xpert	109,265	64,427
ADVANCED MEDICAL SERVICES	IRO Tests		120,878	5,633
MEDGUARD HEALTHCARE LTD	Mask Looped PPE / Gloves / Sani-Cloth	28,859
	TOTAL	€4,501,240	€574,416	€8,827

Department of Defence:

The Department of Defence spent a total of € 5,696,950.79 on Covid-19 related procurement as set out in Table 2 below. This included a one off purchase of an Aircraft used by the Air Corps in the response to Covid-19. Details of the contracts with the various suppliers are set out in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Vendor Name	Services Provided	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2020	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2021	Total Spend Incl. Tax 2022
Pilatus (Switzerland) (Aircraft Ltd)	Aircraft	€5,232,360.71
Pilatus (Switzerland) (Aircraft Ltd) (Goods)	Aircraft Equipment	€55,508.40
Pilatus (Switzerland) (Aircraft Ltd) (Goods)	Aircraft Equipment	€25,729.08
Pilatus (Switzerland) (Aircraft Ltd) (Service)	Aircraft Equipment	€40,414.49
ACCENT SOLUTIONS	Cleaning Services	€718.70	€29,305.58
ALLPRO SERVICES	Cleaning Services	€31,757.40	€25,276.62
FARRELL BROTHERS	Office Furniture		€39,871.00
QUADRA LTD	Risk Assessment		€25,512.59
Theya Healthcare Ltd	PPE	€73,800.00
Total ICT Services	ICT equipment	€116,696.22
	TOTAL	€5,576,985.00	€119,965.79

I am satisfied that the Defence Forces, my Department and the agencies under my remit have the necessary resources available to them, including a modern and effective range of equipment which is line with best international standards in order to fulfil all roles assigned to them by Government.