Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Coldwood N.S. (17051L)

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

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Coldwood National School ran this procurement for “Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Coldwood N.S. (17051L)” 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:

• ie Location and access to the currentdesignated food preparation area and/or servery area, if any N/A Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider €58,240 This is a single stage tender proce
• 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 €58,240
• 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 (
• 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 2
• 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
• 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 Tenderer must 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
• Prior to and as a condition of award of any Services Contract, the successful Tenderer shall be required to designate a single entity who will carry overall responsibility for the Services Contract (the “Prime Contractor”), irrespective of whether or not tasks are to be performed by a subcontractor or other consortium member (the “Subcontractor”).
• No publicity regarding this Competition or any Services Contract pursuant to this Competition is permitted unless and until the Contracting Authority has given its prior written consent to the relevant communication.
• The terms “Registrable Interest” and “Relative” shall be interpreted as per Section 2 of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001, copies of which are available at www.irishstatutebook.ie.The Contracting Authority will, at its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or terminating any Services Contract entered into by a Tenderer. 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
• The Contracting Authority is seeking proposals for the provision of catering service to provide HOT MEALSunder the School Meals Scheme through the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and is dependent on the level of DSP funding approved for each academic year.
• Provision of the 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.
• 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. It is a pre-condition to the commencement of the Services Contract that the Contracting Authority has received confirmation from the DSP of the allocation of funding for academic year 2025/2026.

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.; 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.
• 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
• 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

5. Award criteria & scoring

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
• Each Tenderer is required to accept the provisions of this CFT. ALL TENDERERS MUST RETURN, with their Tender, a scanned signed copy of the Tenderer’s Statement, as set out in Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able to read the scanned signature of the Tenderer. If possible, please sign documents using blue ink. If the Contracting Authority cannot read the scanned signature, Tenderers may be requested to re-submit. Tenderers may not amend the Tenderer’s Statement.

7. Key dates & process

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)
• 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:
• Estimated Contract Value Insert the estimated contract value including extensions =€3.20 (hot meal rate) x (maximum number of students) x 182 (school days) x 3 (years
• 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
• ontinues for 14 calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
• breach(es) (if the breach(es) are capable 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: CFT-Hot-Meals Coldwood N.S. 17051L.docx, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications, Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement, Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer, Appendix 5: Services Contract.