Call for Tenders for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Bunscoil Naomh Chuana 12782C

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

Kilcoona National School ran this procurement for “Call for Tenders for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Bunscoil Naomh Chuana 12782C” 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 current designated food preparation area and/or servery area, if any N/A Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider €121,721.6 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 del
• Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider €121,721.6
• 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 (
• 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
• Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider €121,721
• 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
• 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”). 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 MEALS under 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.
• [CFT-Hot-Meals-Bunscoil Naomh Chuana - 12782C.docx] 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.

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.
• ie Location and access to the current designated food preparation area and/or servery area, if any N/A Minimum Annual Turnover Required of Service Provider €121,721.6 This is a single stage tender proce
• 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

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:
• 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.
• Where a group of undertakings (in whatever form and regardless of the legal relationship between them) come together to submit a Tender in response to this CFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent all members of the group of undertakings. The Tenderer must provide details of all members of the group of undertakings and their role in the Tender and clearly set out the contact details including name, title, telephone number, postal address, facsimile number and e-mail address of the nominated entity authorised to represent the Tenderer and to whom all communications shall be directed and accepted until this Competition has been completed or terminated. Correspondence from any other person will NOT be accepted, acknowledged or responded to.
• Tenderers are required to notify the Contracting Authority immediately via the e-tenders website, if at any stage they decide to withdraw from this Competition.
• 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. For the avoidance of doubt, where Tenderers are submitting a Tender as a Consortium this turnover requirement may be satisfied by combined annual turnover of the consortium members.
• For the avoidance of doubt, Tenderers must submit the documentation requested above with their Tender submission.
• Supporting Documentation required: Copy of acknowledgement of notification letter or copy of approval certificate from the competent authority must be submitted with their Tender.

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 del
• 1 Subject to the terms of the Services Contract the Contracting Authority shall pay the sum of €3.20 (
• 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
• ent the full amount of the aggregate service credits within 30 days of the date of the receipt of an invoic

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-Bunscoil Naomh Chuana - 12782C.docx, Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able, Appendix 1 below in the last three years..
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications, Appendix 1 set outs out the Services which the successful Tenderer (the Food Business Op, Appendix 2..