Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
689. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of contracts to provide services and-or consultancy to her Department that have been granted without having to go to public tender; the companies that were granted these contracts and the nature of the work involved; and the qualifying criteria that were applied to any company awarded such a contract in 2022 and to date in 2023. [35944/23]
View answerThe table below sets out details which are recorded by the Department of contracts to provide services and or consultancy awarded for 2022 and to date in 2023, above a threshold of €25,000 (exclusive of VAT), in accordance with Department of Finance Circular 40/02:
|
Nature of work involved |
Year |
Contractor |
Qualifying criteria |
|
Provision of Employment Services - Local Employment Services (LES) - Job Clubs |
2022 |
25 existing LES contractors 32 existing Job Club contractors |
The tendering of these contracts was delayed due to the pandemic. Request for Tenders to renew these services were published in 2021 and all replacement contracts were awarded in August 2022. |
|
Provision of Employment Services - EmployAbility |
2022 |
23 existing contractors *See Appendix 1 below |
The tendering of the EmployAbility contracts was delayed due to the pandemic. A process is underway to replace the current Employability contracts. |
|
Interpretation Services |
2022 |
Forbidden City |
This contract was required due to the absence of an OGP Framework and an unprecedented demand for Ukrainian interpreters from March 2022. The OGP framework was established and a new contract was awarded in Q1 2023. |
|
Microsoft Unified Support Agreement |
2022 and 2023 |
Microsoft |
This is a proprietary purchase where competition is absent for technical reasons. |
|
Implementation of Oracle KVM and ongoing maintenance. |
2022 |
Fujitsu |
This is a proprietary purchase where competition is absent for technical reasons. |
|
Microsoft Teams development and rollout |
2022 |
Eirevo |
This contract was required to expedite the roll out of the implementation of Microsoft Teams throughout the Department. |
|
Provision of system support and maintenance for the Ingres Application system |
2022 |
IBM |
This is a proprietary purchase where competition is absent for technical reasons. |
|
Provision of Electricity Supply for DSP Buildings Nationwide |
2022 |
Electric Ireland |
This contract was required due to the absence of an OGP Framework after the current contract had expired. Due to the urgent requirement to maintain business operation, the Department entered into a contract with the existing supplier as directed by OGP. |
• The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a delay in the tendering to replace existing contracts related to the provision of Employment Services. The existing contracts did not provide for an extension mechanism. Therefore on expiry of the existing contracts new contracts were granted to existing service providers pending completion of the procurement process to ensure there was no interruption of these important services. All replacement contracts for Local Employment Services and Job Clubs were in place in August 2022 and work is underway to replace the EmployAbility contracts.
• In addition, although not strictly speaking the 'granting' of a new contract, two existing contracts with Turas Nua Ltd and Seetec Ltd. for the delivery of national employment services were extended as allowed under contract terms to facilitate the continued delivery of services pending the completion of a new tendering process. This process was completed and new contracts have been in place since October 2022.
• In some cases, a public tender process is not possible due the the proprietary nature of the service involved, or where there is an urgent need for a service which would not allow time for public tendering.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
Appendix 1
|
EmployAbility Contractor 2022 / 2023 |
|
Work4U Company Limited By Guarantee |
|
Dublin South Supported Employment CLG |
|
Work Access Ltd., T/A EmployAbility Limerick |
|
Clare Supported Employment Service Company Ltd |
|
North Tipperary Supported Employment |
|
Kildare Coalition of Supported Employment |
|
Midland Employment Support Agency Company |
|
Co. Louth Supported Employment Partnership |
|
Monaghan Supported Employment Support Agency CLG |
|
Co. Roscommon Supported Employment Service Company |
|
Jobmatters |
|
Employment Response North West Ltd |
|
Waterford Employment Support Agency |
|
South Tipperary Supported Employment Project |
|
Kilkenny/Carlow Area Supported Employment Service |
|
Wexford Consortium For Supported Employment (W.C.S.E.) |
|
The Wicklow Supported Employment Network |
|
First Employment Services CLG, T/A EmployAbility Services Cork |
|
Workstart West Cork Ltd., T/A EmployAbility Service West Cork |
|
Kerry Supported Employment CLG |
|
Galway Supported Employment Consortium |
|
Work Web West |
|
Business In The Community Ireland |
