asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 14 March (WA 143) concerning Waterways Ireland, who compiled the suitability questionnaire; and on what basis it was used to select a contractor for the work on Royal Canal Longford and Begnagh Bridges; and [HL2810]
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 14 March (WA 143) concerning Waterways Ireland, who judged whether tenders were suitable; on what basis the contractors were selected for the work on Royal Canal Longford and Begnagh Bridges; and whether an overspend on the project is expected. [HL2813]
To ensure that the contractors competing for these contracts had suitable experience and resources to undertake the works and complied with Directive 97/52/EC (bankruptcy conditions) suitability questions, based on guidelines concerning the conditions of contract for roads and civil engineering, were compiled by Waterways Ireland for the Begnagh Bridge and by Roughan & O'Donovan (Consulting Engineers) for the Longford Bridge. Each organisation assessed whether the respective tenders met those suitability criteria. From the suitable tenders the most economically advantageous tender was then selected.
Current indications are that the Longford Bridge contract will be slightly above the tender sum and that the Begnagh Bridge contract will be within the tender price.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 22 March (WA 228) concerning Waterways Ireland, how many consultants were considered for a review of the structures; how the successful consultancy was awarded; and what was the cost. [HL3015]
I understand from Waterways Ireland that the organisation review was let by public tender. Forty-nine consultants requested tender information packs and 11 valid tenders were received.
The organisational review steering group had approved a scoring mechanism prior to the receipt of the tenders. The tenders were evaluated using the agreed scoring mechanism. The tender was awarded to the consultants who achieved the best overall score.
The cost of the successful tender was £36,000 excluding VAT.