External ICT Technical Support Services

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

Food Safety Authority of Ireland ran this procurement for “External ICT Technical Support Services” 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: External ICT Technical Support Services
• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 Public Liability €6,500,000 Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 Cyber Insurance €500,000 2
• rity estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contracts may amount to some €1,000,000 (excl
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• External ICT Technical Support Services
• 1.1 The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (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”).
• 1.2 In summary, the Services comprise: External ICT Technical support services, subject to the Contracting Authority’s obligations at law including without limitation, Regulation 73 of the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (SI No. 284 of 2016).
• 1.4 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 TWO years (“the Term”).
• 1.6 The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contracts may amount to some €1,000,000 (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 and does not represent a contractual commitment of the part of the Contracting Authority.
• 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 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.
• 2.1.2 The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced or any Tender. This RFT does not constitute an offer or commitment to enter into a Services Contract. No contractual rights in relation to the Contracting Authority will exist unless and until a formal written Services Contract has been executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. Any notification of preferred bidder status by the Contracting Authority shall not give rise to any enforceable rights by the Tenderer. The Contracting Authority may cancel this Competitionat any time prior to a formal written Services Contract being executed by or on behalf of the Contracting Authority. The award of a Services Contract does not confer exclusivity on the successful Tenderer.
• 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 ( 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.

• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs
• 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 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.

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.; be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 Public Liability €6,500,000 Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 Cyber Insurance €500,000 2
• 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.
• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 Public Liability €6,500,000 Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 Cyber Insurance €500,000 2

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
• 1.1 The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (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”).
• [FSAI Request for Tender ITPS 2025.docx] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the “General Data Protection Regulation”), and any guidelines and codes of practice issued by the Office of the Data Protection Commission or other supervisory authority for data protection in Ireland from time to time. The Contracting Authority will be a Data Controller (where Data Controller has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) in respect of any Personal Data (where Personal Data has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) required to be provided by the Tenderer in response to this RFT. The Tenderer, as Data Controller in respect of any Personal Data provided by it in its Tender, 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 providing such Personal Data to the Contracting Authority for the purposes of its participation in this Competition.
• [FSAI Request for Tender ITPS 2025.docx] 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 procurement procedure is equal to or greater than the applicable financial thresholds set out therein. In that regard, Tenderers and Candidates are referred to Appendix 3A of the RFT.

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)
• be required to hold for the term of the Services Contract the following insurances: Type of Insurance Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €13,000,000 Public Liability €6,500,000 Professional Indemnity €1,500,000 Cyber Insurance €500,000 2
• 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 TWO such extensions p
• 12 months with a maximum of TWO such extensions p
• continues for 7 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: [3
• 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

Deadline phrases

• 00hrs (Irish Time) on 6th October 2025 (the “Tender Deadline”)
• 00hrs on 6th October 2025

Scale / volume phrases

• e right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to 12 months with a maximum of TWO such extensions p
• 12 months with a maximum of TWO such extensions p
• continues for 7 calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice
• , without liability for compensation or damages, by serving 1 months written notice to the Contractor
• , without liability for compensation or damages, by serving 6 months written notice to the Client
• 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
• Tenderers should strive to close escalated items within 2 weeks of the items being raised
• 4 weeks) as follows:
• 2-3 days) and ideally, immediately, to provide p
• • Attendance of 260 days per year (allowing for weekends and pub

TENDER DOCUMENTS [FSAI Request for Tender ITPS 2025.docx, FSAI Request for Tender ITPS 2025.docx, RFT, Tenderers must achieve a minimum of 60% of the marks available for cer.

• 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 2: Pricing Schedule, Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement.