Request for Tenders for the Provision of Radar Transponders/Beacons (RACONS)

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

Commissioners of Irish Lights_337 ran this procurement for “Request for Tenders for the Provision of Radar Transponders/Beacons (RACONS)” 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:

• Warranty – Minimum of 2 years (followed by repair/service agreement which shall be outlined in tender submission) Costs to be provided for 4-year warranty period if outside of tenderer’s standard warranty offering
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• to pay invoices not submitted within 6 months after completion of the Services and only in exceptional
• to pay invoices not submitted within 6 months after completion of the Services and on
• Irish Lights Mission is “Safe Navigation at Sea” – to be a leading and innovative provider of reliable, efficient and cost effective navigation and maritime services for the safety of all.
• [RFT for the Provision of Racons - Irish Lights.docx] This RFT includes the attached schedules and all supporting and supplemental information.
• The award of the Contract to the Successful Tenderer does not constitute a commitment or guarantee by Irish Lights to procure goods or services from the Successful Tenderer.
• In addition, where an entity is being relied upon in order to meet the Selection Criteria, the Tenderer must confirm that the entity being relied upon will itself perform the services for which those capacities are required. If this is not established to the satisfaction of Irish Lights, Irish Lights will assess the suitability of the Tenderer without taking into account the capacities of such entity being relied upon.
• It will be a condition of the Contract awarded pursuant to this Procurement Process that the Successful Tenderer (or if the Successful Tenderer is a consortium, each member of the consortium) shall for the term of the Contract comply with all applicable EU and domestic tax laws. Tenderers are referred to www.revenue.ie under “What can I do online”, “Tax Clearance” for further information. Prior to the award of the Contract arising out of this Procurement Process, the Successful Tenderer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by Irish Lights and by submitting a Tender Tenderers consent to Irish Lights verifying their information on www.revenue.ie.
• 8.17 Professional Services Withholding Tax
• Irish Lights is required to deduct withholding tax for professional services provided and will do so in accordance with any relevant guidance provided by Revenue. 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.

• [RFT for the Provision of Racons - Irish Lights.docx] a term of three (3) years, subject to satisfactory annual review of performance, and may, at the sole discretion of Irish Lights, be extended for a further period or periods of up to five (5) years, from the date when the Contract would otherwise have expired. This is inline with the lifecycle of our buoy refurbishment/replacement programme.
• Tenderers’ particular attention is drawn to the application of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and to the application of the Competition Act 2002 which makes it a criminal offence for Tenderers to collude on prices or terms in a public tendering procedure. Should Irish Lights become aware of direct or indirect communications through trade associations or otherwise between Tenderers relating to the Contract conditions or which might facilitate price collusion, it shall be the policy of Irish Lights to disqualify such Tenderers and to notify the matter to the Competition Authority with the recommendation that action be taken against such Tenderers.
• [RFT for the Provision of Racons - Irish Lights.docx] trade associations or otherwise between Tenderers relating to the Contract conditions or which might facilitate price collusion, it shall be the policy of Irish Lights to disqualify such Tenderers and to notify the matter to the Competition Authority with the recommendation that action be taken against such Tenderers.

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.; Insurance Indemnity Level Employer’s Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €13 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unlimited in the aggregate Public Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €6.5 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unl; imited in the aggregate Product Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €6.5 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unl
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — Turnover Please mark ‘X’ in the relevant box to confirm that the turnover requirement can be met Tenderer’s must have achieved an annual turnover level of at least €400,000 in each of the last 3 financial years
• 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.
• Insurance Indemnity Level Employer’s Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €13 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unlimited in the aggregate Public Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €6.5 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unl
• imited in the aggregate Product Liability Minimum indemnity limit of €6.5 million on an “each and every claim” basis, unl
• Turnover Please mark ‘X’ in the relevant box to confirm that the turnover requirement can be met Tenderer’s must have achieved an annual turnover level of at least €400,000 in each of the last 3 financial years

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — not specified in extract.
• 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:
• ied in Appendix C (the “Selection Criteria”) – only Tenderers meeting the minimum requirements prescribed under the Selection Criteria will proceed to Stage 3 (i
• itability for the provision of the Deliverables, the Tenderer meets each of the minimum requirements as outlined above and in Appendix C, Part 1 of this RFT
• to pay invoices not submitted within 6 months after completion of the Services and only in exceptional
• to pay invoices not submitted within 6 months after completion of the Services and on
• Contact for Queries Questions and Answers facility on www.etenders.gov.ie
• Tender Deadline 05/06/2025 or as per eTenders

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 6 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)
• Section Description Minimum Requirement Supplier Comments
• workmanship and remain so for a minimum of 12 months after delivery; and
• and configuration equipment and ability to meet a maximum 6–8 week repair lead time
• Acceptance Tests for the Goods within 10 days of receipt of the proposed user accepta
• terminate the Contract by giving 20 days’ written notice to the other party
• 8. GENERAL TERMS 7
• STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS 35

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 the Provision of Racons - Irish Lights.docx, Appendix C (the “Selection Criteria”) – only Tenderers meeting the minimum require, Appendix C, Part 1 of this RFT.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: Contract Notice (excl. VAT) over the term of the Contract (as defined below.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: RFT for the Provision of Racons - Irish Lights.docx] , RFT ID [●] , RFT) including clarifications and changes, will be published on the Irish Governmen.