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Closed Catering & Food Services Services SME Suitable Open

Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Carnaun NS 14031N

Value

€155k

Deadline

04 Dec

Tender for hot meal provision at Carnaun National School under the School Meals Scheme

SME fit: High Bid effort: Medium 📍 Galway

Tender for hot meal provision at Carnaun National School under the School Meals Scheme

Bidder profile

Ideal for mid-sized to large catering firms with experience in public sector contracts and compliance with food safety standards.

Risks & flags

  • Funding dependent
  • Qualification gate
  • Insurance requirements

Briefing

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

Field Detail
Buyer Carnaun National School
Title Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Carnaun NS 14031N
CPV / category services
Estimated value 155000.00
Per-year (if multi-year) not stated
Procedure type not stated
Lots not stated
Location Ireland
Contract length 2 years
Submission deadline 2025-12-04T15:00:00+00:00
Go-live / start not stated

2. Scope of Work

Carnaun National School ran this procurement for “Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Carnaun NS 14031N” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

  • e required to hold for the term of the Services Contract, the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability* €13 million limit, for any one claim or series of
  • As the estimated value of the Services Contract which may result from this Competition is BELOW €750,000 the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (SI
  • 1 Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (VAT exempt) per student per day (the “Fee”) for each hot meal provided and del
  • Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (VAT exempt)per student per day (the “Fee”) for each Hot Meal provided and deli
  • Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider 51,833
  • rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
  • The successful Tenderermust provide service on each of the 182 days, other than for exceptional and/or unfo
  • ent the full amount of the aggregate service credits within 30 days of the date of the receipt of an invoic
  • No. of Students to be provided with the Service 89
  • Contract Type Services
  • 1.1 The Board of Management of “Carnaun National School”(the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this call for tenders (“CFT”) from economic operators“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this CFT (the “Services”).
  • 1.2 In summary, the Services comprise: The provision of catering services to provide HOT MEALSto the students of the Contracting Authority in full compliance with the Department of Social Protection’s School Hot Meals Scheme. The Contracting Authority requires that the Services are made available each day of the school year for the total number of students as set out in Table 1 above. Provision of Services will begin at the earliest practicable date in academic year 2025/2026 (specific date to be agreed and subject to confirmation of funding). The school calendar will be furnished to the successful Tenderer at the beginning of each school year. For the avoidance of doubt: 1. Please note, that it is a mandatory requirement of the Contracting Authority that Tenders are submitted on the basis that all meals will be prepared and delivered/served in accordance with service delivery model number 1 (the “Service Delivery Model”) listed below(do not delete any of these options): 1. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-site and Delivered Ready to Eat The Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

  • Cyber Liability €1 million, Any One Claim and in the aggregate per Insurance policy year
  • 1.2 In summary, the Services comprise: The provision of catering services to provide HOT MEALSto the students of the Contracting Authority in full compliance with the Department of Social Protection’s School Hot Meals Scheme. The Contracting Authority requires that the Services are made available each day of the school year for the total number of students as set out in Table 1 above. Provision of Services will begin at the earliest practicable date in academic year 2025/2026 (specific date to be agreed and subject to confirmation of funding). The school calendar will be furnished to the successful Tenderer at the beginning of each school year. For the avoidance of doubt: 1. Please note, that it is a mandatory requirement of the Contracting Authority that Tenders are submitted on the basis that all meals will be prepared and delivered/served in accordance with service delivery model number 1 (the “Service Delivery Model”) listed below(do not delete any of these options): 1. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-site and Delivered Ready to Eat The
  • [New new Hot School Meals 14031N.docx] -site (in the school designated food preparation area) and are required to be served/available to each classroom in a timely manner in advance of the student’s lunch time. Food must be at the classrooms, ready to be eaten, at the beginning of the lunch break. See further details on the designated food preparation and/or servery area in Appendix 1 below. 1. No service delivery model/meal option(s) other than that listed above will beaccepted and a Tender which proposes an alternative service delivery model/mealoption or variations of the stated service delivery model/meal option will bedeemed non-compliant and will be rejected; 2. Mandatory Site Visit, all Tenderers are required to visit and review the entire school campus at the mandatory site visit prior to submitting it’s Tender. See MR01 below for details. Tenderers should note that: * Funding for the Hot School Meals Scheme (the Scheme) is provided through the Department of Social Protection (DSP). This Funding is allocated on a school-year basis and must be applied for annually by the school; * There is no automatic entitlement to DSP funding in any yearand all applications are considered on the available budget for the Scheme. Whilst this competition is being run for a specific period any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) is entirely dependent on the aforementioned funding, and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to cancel the competition or the Services Contract in the event that funding is no longer available or forthcoming; * Further information on the School Meals Scheme can be found here: [Department of Social Protection](https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fck%2Fa%3F!%26%26p%3De91306df3260065ea7456f1a01059f66dccc0579bcca0
  • 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition.SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Services Contractthat may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits. Larger enterprises are also encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to consider the practical ways that SMEs can be included in their proposals to maximise the social and economic benefits of any Services Contracts that may result from this Competition.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

  • Turnover requirement — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
  • Insurance — — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.; e required to hold for the term of the Services Contract, the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability* €13 million limit, for any one claim or series of; Public Liability* €6.5 million limit, for any one claim or series of
  • Certifications — not specified for this tender
  • Past experience — not specified for this tender
  • Personnel — not specified for this tender
  • Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender Additional binding lines surfaced in the deterministic extract:
  • — use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.
  • e required to hold for the term of the Services Contract, the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability* €13 million limit, for any one claim or series of
  • Public Liability* €6.5 million limit, for any one claim or series of
  • Product Liability* €6.5 million limit, for any one claim and in the a
  • Motor Cover Minimum limit, of €1.3 million for third party property damage for a
  • Crime Insurance €100,000, Any one claim

5. Award criteria & scoring

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria Pass/fail threshold
[New new Hot School Meals 14031N.docx] CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYi 0% not stated not stated
The documents indicated a staged process (qualification, then tender). Any explicit MEAT split is captured above where a numeric line was visible; otherwise it remained not specified in the provided text extract.

6. Submission requirements

  • Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
  • CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
  • Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
  • Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
  • Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
  • Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
  • Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
  • Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications
  • Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer
  • Appendix 6: Confidentiality Agreement
  • Appendix 7: Property Licence and Deed of Renunciation
  • Appendix 8: Draft Data Processing Agreement
  • Clarification / Queries only via eTenders

7. Key dates & process

Milestone Date
RFT issued not specified
Clarification deadline not specified
Mandatory site visit not specified
Tender deadline (date + time) 2025-12-04T15:00:00+00:00
Expected award not specified
Contract start not specified
Go-live / mobilisation not stated
Date surfaced in documents 2025-12-04T15:00:00+00:00
Date surfaced in documents 26 February 2014
Date surfaced in documents 12 March 2001
Date surfaced in documents Regulations 2016

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 2 years. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

  • VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
  • e required to hold for the term of the Services Contract, the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability* €13 million limit, for any one claim or series of
  • 1 Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (VAT exempt) per student per day (the “Fee”) for each hot meal provided and del
  • Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (VAT exempt)per student per day (the “Fee”) for each Hot Meal provided and deli
  • NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
  • ontinues for 14 calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
  • breach(es) (if the breach(es) arecapable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f
  • For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

  • Qualification gate: the deterministic extract included a turnover threshold line (— use these verbatim for insurance / turnover. If a category (insurance, turnover) has no entry here, treat it as 'not specified' for THIS tender.), which can materially narrow bidder pool composition.
  • The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
  • Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

  • Credible bidder profile — mid-sized to large specialist with formal QA/compliance process.
  • Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
  • Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
  • Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

  • Source RFT/PQQ filenames: Nutrition Standards for Hot School M
  • Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (VAT exempt)per student per day (the “Fee”) for each Hot Meal provided and deli
  • The Client shall pay the Contractor €3.20 (VAT exempt) (“the Fees”) for each Hot Meal ordered and delivered to the Client
  • NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
  • Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability* €13 million limit, for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurren

Minimum-level / mandatory phrases

  • Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider 51,833
  • **Tenderers must:**Demonstrate that they have generated a minimum annual turnover equal to or greater than the amount as set out in Table 1 above for each of the three (3) financial years immediately preceding the date of publication of this CFT
  • p KAM must each, at a minimum,hold a Food Safety/ HACCPqualification and have a minimum of 2 years of experience in a similar role
  • **Tenderers must:**Demonstrate that they have generated a minimum annual turnover equal to or greater than the amount as set out in Table 1 in the CFT for each of the three (3) financial yearsimmediately preceding the date of publication of this CFT

Regulations and standards cited

  • name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and e-mail address of the nominated entity authorised to represent the Tenderer a
  • rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
  • 369 of 2006), as amended by S.I. No. 47/2020
  • for example, liners that indicate the Cré Ireland logo, the EN 13432 standard or equivalent)
  • Where a staff member ceases working with the successful Tenderer or is no longer engaged in the provis

Deadline phrases

  • ons) Vetting Act 2012 – 2016, commenced on 29th April 2016, and Department of Education & Youth and Skills circular letters

Scale / volume phrases

  • Model”) listed below(do not delete any of these options): 1. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-site and Delivered Rea
    1. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-Site and Heated in the
    1. Meals Fully Prepared On-Site The items are
  • The school opens 182 days per year
  • The successful Tenderermust provide service on each of the 182 days, other than for exceptional and/or unfo
  • thority will pay the successful Tenderer the Fees owed on a 30 days in arrears basis and in line with the p
  • ontinues for 14 calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
  • breach(es) (if the breach(es) arecapable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f
  • For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ
  • The Client will pay the Contractor the Fees owed on a 30 days in arrears basis and in line with the p
  • 3 24 hours Within 5 school days Every school day
  • 3 1 week Contractors Key Account Manager Eve
  • ent the full amount of the aggregate service credits within 30 days of the date of the receipt of an invoic
  • Complaints to be fully resolved 3-5 days
    1. Monthly status reports reporting key informat

TENDER DOCUMENTS [New new Hot School Meals 14031N.docx, New new Hot School Meals 14031N.docx, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications.

  • eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
  • Clarification contact / portal: [email protected].
  • Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule, Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement, Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer.

Can you bid?

Minimum turnover

€51,833

Public liability insurance

€6,500,000

Scoring

Most Economically Advantageous Tender

Qualitative Assessment

Lots (1)

Lot 1

Documents (2)

DOCX

New new Hot School Meals 14031N.docx

278.0 KB · RFT / Invitation to Tender

DOCX

New TRD-Hot-Meals 14031n.docx

100.3 KB · Tender Response Template

Original notice text

Carnaun National School seeks tenders for the provision of hot meals to students under the School Meals Scheme, requiring daily service for 89 students over a 2-year contract.

AI analysis updated 4 months ago

Bid ↗
Details

Value

€155k

Deadline

04 Dec

View on eTenders ↗

Location

Ireland

Procedure

Open

Clarification

24 Nov 2025

eTenders ID

6974100

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