Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2019
86. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the guidance notes or circulars his Department has published and circulated to Departments on the regulation of abnormally low tenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18077/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhere works and works-related services are concerned, guidance on abnormally low tenders is published by the Office of Government Procurement under the Capital Works Management Framework. The Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services published in July 2017 and its predecessor which was first published in 2004 also contains guidance on abnormally low tenders.
Where works and works-related service contracts are concerned, specific reference to unbalanced tenders, abnormally low tenders is made in Section 8 of the standard template Instructions to Tenderers published under the Capital Works Management Framework. These documents, which constitute the rules under which a tender competition is run, must be used in all public works tenders and have been published since 2008.
The EU directives set out the legal framework for the award of contracts that exceed the specified monetary threshold for supplies, services and works. Under Article 69 of 2014/24/EU, the EU Directive governing public procurement, contracting authorities are obliged to require tenderers to explain the price or costs in a tender where tenders appear to be abnormally low in relation to the works, supplies or services.
Contracting authorities must assess the response from the tenderer before coming to a decision as to whether they will admit the tender or reject it on the basis that it is abnormally low.
Where the explanation provided by a tenderer does not satisfactorily account for the low level of price or costs, having taken into account the circumstances outlined in the procurement directives, the contracting authority may reject the tender but they are not obliged to do so.
Where the contracting authority discovers that the price is abnormally low because the tenderer is not meeting their obligations in the field of social, labour or environmental law then the tender must be rejected.
