RFT for the Provision of Market Research and Survey Consultancy Services to Skillnet Ireland

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

Skillnet Ireland ran this procurement for “RFT for the Provision of Market Research and Survey Consultancy Services to Skillnet Ireland” 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:

• Title: RFT for the Provision of Market Research and Survey Consultancy Services to Skillnet Ireland
• ed to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 limit for any one claim or series of
• rity estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Service Contract may amount to some €380,000 (excl
• Tenderers must have achieved a minimum annual turnover of at least €80,000 for each of the past three financial years or pro-rata if the date of establishment was more recent, supported by a statement from an auditor or accountant
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] ServicesRFT160125
• Market Research and Survey Consultancy Services
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] Part 1: Introduction
• Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer Appendix 5: Services Contract
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx]
• 1.1 Skillnet Ireland CLG (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”). In summary, the Services comprise: Market Research and Survey Consultancy services, to conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research over the contract period. Not Used. This public procurement competition (the “Competition”) will be conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016) (the “Regulations”). Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of three (3) years (“the Term”). The Contracting Authority reserves the right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to Twelve (12) months with a maximum of one such extension or extensions on the same terms and conditions, subject to the Contracting Authority’s obligations at law. The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Service Contract may amount to some €380,000 (excl. VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions. Tenderers must understand that this figure is an estimate only based on current and future expected usage. 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
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] 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 Contract that 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. 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.

• 1.1 Skillnet Ireland CLG (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”). In summary, the Services comprise: Market Research and Survey Consultancy services, to conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research over the contract period. Not Used. This public procurement competition (the “Competition”) will be conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016) (the “Regulations”). Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of three (3) years (“the Term”). The Contracting Authority reserves the right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to Twelve (12) months with a maximum of one such extension or extensions on the same terms and conditions, subject to the Contracting Authority’s obligations at law. The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Service Contract may amount to some €380,000 (excl. VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions. Tenderers must understand that this figure is an estimate only based on current and future expected usage. 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
• Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 limit for any one claim or series of claims arising one of a single occurrence. Policy to be on a "claims occurring" basis.
• Public Liability €6,500,000 million limit for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence. Policy to be on a "claims occurring" basis.
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] 000 million limit for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence. Policy to be on a "claims occurring" basis.

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.; ed to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 limit for any one claim or series of; Public Liability €6,500,000 million limit for any one claim or se
• 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.
• ed to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 limit for any one claim or series of
• Public Liability €6,500,000 million limit for any one claim or se
• Product Liability (Not applicable) Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 000 million limit for any one clai
• Product Liability (Not applicable) Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 million limit in the aggregate per in
• Tenderers must have achieved a minimum annual turnover of at least €80,000 for each of the past three financial

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 5: Services Contract
• Appendix 6: Confidentiality Agreement
• 1.1 Skillnet Ireland CLG (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Services”). In summary, the Services comprise: Market Research and Survey Consultancy services, to conduct both qualitative and quantitative market research over the contract period. Not Used. This public procurement competition (the “Competition”) will be conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016) (the “Regulations”). Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of three (3) years (“the Term”). The Contracting Authority reserves the right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to Twelve (12) months with a maximum of one such extension or extensions on the same terms and conditions, subject to the Contracting Authority’s obligations at law. The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Service Contract may amount to some €380,000 (excl. VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions. Tenderers must understand that this figure is an estimate only based on current and future expected usage. 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
• [RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] is required to confirm in the statement required under paragraph 2.4 below that all Data Subjects (where Data Subject has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) whose Personal Data is provided by the Tenderer have consented to the processing of such Personal Data by the Tenderer, the Contracting Authority, the Evaluation Team and the supplier of the etenders.gov.ie website, for the purposes of the participation of the Tenderer in this Competition or that the Tenderer otherwise has a legal basis for
• 2.1.5 2.1.6 The Contracting Authority would refer Tenderers in particular to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 on the access of third country economic operators, goods and services to the Union’s public procurement and concession markets and procedures supporting negotiations on access of Union economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement and concession markets of third countries (International Procurement Instrument – IPI), and to their obligation to comply therewith. In particular, tenderers and candidates should note in Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031, the obligations for a Contracting Authority in the context of a procurement procedure where the EU Commission has adopted an IPI measure. Tenderers are referred to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Foreign Subsidies distorting the Internal Market, in addition to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1441, and their obligation to comply therewith. In particular, tenderers and candidates should note the requirements in Articles 28 and 29 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 relating to the prior notification or declaration of foreign financial contributions, where the estimated value of the public

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 12 months. 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)
• ed to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 limit for any one claim or series of
• Skillnet Ireland has a research budget of estimated as €380,000 excluding VAT for the term of the contract
• 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:
• e right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to 12 months with a maximum of one such extensions p
• continues for 30calendar 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: RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx, RFT for the Provision of Market Research and Survey Consultancy Services to Skillne, RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] ServicesR.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: RFT for provison of Market Research and survey Consultancy Services.docx] Part 1: I, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications, Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule.