asked the Minister for Education why the tender for the supply of fibreglass material for the building of community schools in Ballincollig, County Cork and Ballynanty, County Limerick was not given to an Irish firm; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Community School Building.
10.
The main contract in this case, as I stated last week, was secured by an Irish firm. The sub-tender for fibreglass material received from the foreign firm was 30 per cent lower than the nearest tender of an Irish firm.
Both these schools are being financed by a World Bank loan and it is a condition of the legal agreement between the Government and the World Bank that there be international tendering for all projects covered by the loan.
Having regard to the substantial difference between the two tenders and to our legal obligations, there was no option but to accept the lowest tender for the fibreglass material.
Can the Minister tell us the number of tenders that were received for this fibreglass and how many of these were from Irish firms? I understand that the terms of the World Bank loan allow for a 15 per cent tolerance in respect of Irish firms. Can the Minister say whether there was any way by which an Irish firm whose contract was not within that 15 per cent tolerance could have been given the contract. For instance, could the Minister have approached the European Parliament or any other body on the matter?
The answer to the last part of the Deputy's supplementary is no. I have not got the information as to the exact number of tenders submitted but I have information as to the amounts of the tenders in question—the one which was successful and the one which was not successful.
Is it not the position that the managing director of an Irish firm who had submitted a contract for the supply of this fibreglass stated publicly that there was no consultation with him as to the conditions, and that neither was he consulted as to why he could not compete with these foreign firms? I was interested to hear the Minister say that——
May we have a question, please?
——the designers also were from the UK. What conditions are laid down by the World Bank in regard to loans? Are we tied completely by their terms?
This would seem to be a separate question.
As I pointed out the last day, the main building contractors were a Cork firm, the architect, quantity surveyor, services engineer and construction engineer were from Dublin and the team in question—these five lots—appointed the English firm of consultants. They were not appointed by the Minister for Education.
So the design consultants were from the UK?
Yes.
Can the Minister tell us what was the total cost of the fibreglass for these two schools?
The lowest tender, the one which was successful, amounted to £216,929. This was out of a total expenditure of at least £1.75 million.