Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
12. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on reports in the media that an Irish subsidiary of a multinational company is scoping out bidding on State contracts to run community employment support schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5347/22]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing high quality services to help people who are long term unemployed prepare for and secure employment. It does this through a combination of directly provided services and contracted services. Under national and EU procurement rules, and as advised by the Attorney General and the Chief States Solicitor's Office, contracted services must be procured via open and competitive procurement. My Department is therefore procuring a new Local Area Employment Service over two distinct phases. Phase one of the process for procuring new employment services involved seven counties in the Midlands and North West who did not have a Local Employment Service. Contracts were signed last December and services are in the process of being mobilised.Phase two of the process has now commenced, with the publication of the request for tender in December for seventeen lots covering 19 counties. Services for this phase will begin in July 2022.While I am aware of the media reports the Deputy is referring to, I obviously cannot comment on potential bids to what is a live procurement process. I can however say that, as with every open competitive procurement, it is open to any entity to submit a tender. Of course any tender submitted must meet certain qualifying criteria laid out in the tender documents. Provided it does so it will then be considered on its own merits, in line with procurement law. This does not mean that the tender submitted must succeed but it does mean that it has the opportunity to be considered. This is how legal procurement works. I would emphasise that under the procurement process for Local Area Employment Services now underway, 80% of the award criteria marks are related to the quality of the service, its community linkages, and its impact on social value. The experience from Phase 1 shows that community and voluntary groups can and did succeed, securing contracts in two of the three lots where they submitted a tender. I am therefore confident that community and voluntary based providers who work collaboratively and submit high quality bids will be in a strong competitive position to secure a contract.
