Call for Tenders for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to St. Declan’s NS 18048E

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

St. Declan's NS ran this procurement for “Call for Tenders for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to St. Declan’s NS 18048E” 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:

• in nature, scale and value to the services being sought in this competition - a minimum of two examples of those confirmed must be provided
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• n and associated area must be completed by 29th August 2024 to facilitate provision of the service for the new academic year
• area must be completed by 29th August 2024 to facilitate provision of the service for the new academic year
• this service for hot meals each day of the school year for 104 students
• l tender will be expected to provide service on each of the 182 days, other than for exceptional and/or unfo
• The successful service provider will be paid within 30 days of
• The successful service provider will be paid within 30 days of receipt of invoice
• The Board of Management of St. Declan’s NS is seeking proposals for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme through the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection (DEASP) and is dependent on the level of DEASP funding approved for 2024/2025. St. Declan’s NS intends to facilitate the availability of this service for hot meals each day of the school year for 104 students. The school calendar will be furnished to the successful company at the beginning of each school year.
• The items are to be prepared off site and delivered to the school daily. The service provider will be fully responsible for ensuring that optimum temperature controls are adhered to at all stages, including reheating of any meals. Service providers will be required to distribute the meals to each classroom in a timely manner in advance of the student’s relevant lunch time. Food should be at the classrooms, ready to eat, at the beginning of this 15-minute period. The school will agree with the successful service provider on the most appropriate distribution system for the school. All food must be prepared off-site. We require an efficient setup with food well presented. Clean up after service provision is also expected. It is intended to award a contract to a single service provider. A high quality, flexible and responsive service is required combined with continuous improvement and innovation for the 36 weeks of the year in which the school operates.
• The successful tenderer may, at the discretion of St. Declan’s NS, be asked to view the site in advance of submitting a tender proposal. The site visit will allow you to view the site and propose any works/changes needed to facilitate and manage the implementation of the hot meals scheme in the school from an estimated start date of 29th August 2024 (specific date to be agreed
• [CFT Hot Meals - St. Declan's NS Ardmore 18048E.docx] site in advance of submitting a tender proposal. The site visit will allow you to view the site and propose any works/changes needed to facilitate and manage the implementation of the hot meals scheme in the school from an estimated start date of 29th August 2024 (specific date to be agreed). Site Visits where required can be arranged by contacting the school via eTenders. 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.

• The Board of Management of St. Declan’s NS is seeking proposals for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme through the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection (DEASP) and is dependent on the level of DEASP funding approved for 2024/2025. St. Declan’s NS intends to facilitate the availability of this service for hot meals each day of the school year for 104 students. The school calendar will be furnished to the successful company at the beginning of each school year.
• St. Declan’s NS welcomes all proposals on the provision of food and beverages in the school. However, it should be noted that the menu must be in line with the School’s Healthy Eating Policy. The provision is to begin on the estimated date of 29th August 2024 (specific date to be agreed).
• The successful tenderer is to provide fresh, seasonal nutritious produce (organic where possible), fruits, vegetables, grains, other foods, that may be new to students keeping in line with our Healthy Eating Policy and our School Meals Programme where applicable.
• The successful tenderer must be responsible for upholding the Healthy Eating Policy of the

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.; 90g) Type of Insurance Minimum Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m million for any one claim or series of; Public Liability €6.5m million 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.
• 90g) Type of Insurance Minimum Indemnity Limit Employer’s Liability €12.7m million for any one claim or series of
• Public Liability €6.5m million for any one claim or series of
• Product Liability €6.5 million for any one claim or series of claims a
• nfirm that we have the following insurances in place Insurance Type Insurance Type Level in Place Details of Any Excess Expiry Date Employers Liability Employers Liability €12.7m million for any one claim or series of
• Public Liability Public Liability €6.5m million for any one claim or series of

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) — not specified in extract.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• The successful tenderer may, at the discretion of St. Declan’s NS, be asked to view the site in advance of submitting a tender proposal. The site visit will allow you to view the site and propose any works/changes needed to facilitate and manage the implementation of the hot meals scheme in the school from an estimated start date of 29th August 2024 (specific date to be agreed
• [CFT Hot Meals - St. Declan's NS Ardmore 18048E.docx] site in advance of submitting a tender proposal. The site visit will allow you to view the site and propose any works/changes needed to facilitate and manage the implementation of the hot meals scheme in the school from an estimated start date of 29th August 2024 (specific date to be agreed). Site Visits where required can be arranged by contacting the school via eTenders.
• 4.1.1 Food, Menus, Pricing and Promotion
• The successful tenderer must be responsible for upholding the Healthy Eating Policy of the school. St. Declan’s NS recommend that Tenderers familiarise themselves with the content of the school’s Healthy Eating Policy and Nutrition Standards for School Meals which can be found http://www.welfare.ie/en/downloads/NutritionalStandardsForSchoolMeals.pdf. This must be used as a guide to Tenderers regarding menu plans and ideas of best options and pricing for the students for the requirement of all food being prepared and cooked onsite.
• [CFT Hot Meals - St. Declan's NS Ardmore 18048E.docx] in advance of their intention to change their menus during the school term (or for the next academic year), and supply the principal with the new proposed menu for approval (especially any option that is not selling well). The Principal reserves the right to refuse a menu if it does not comply with the school’s Healthy Eating Policy. This includes any proposed price changes and prior approval by the Principal of the same. Any new pricing that may need implementing must firstly be discussed with the Principal, including validation of the reasons why.
• http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/nutrition-guidelines-full.pdf http://www.healthyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/M9617-DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH_Food-Pyramid-Poster_Advice-Version.pdf,

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 1 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)
• The maximum rate of payment for a hot meal is €3.20 per student per day
• 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:
• the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
• The current rate of payment allocated for hot meals is €3.20 per child per day
• The successful tenderer will be paid within 30 days of receipt of invoice
• terms of employment for the relevant staff for a period of 6 months prior to the expiry of this contract
• ntinues for [3] calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days’ notice

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 — not clearly specified in extract.
• 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 - St. Declan's NS Ardmore 18048E.docx, TUPE) may apply to this Contract. Candidates, if successful will be required at tender stage to include an undertaking to comply fully with the provisions of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, business or parts of undertakings or business and as implemented in Irish law by Statutory Instrument S.I. No. 131 of 2003, the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003. The Contractor shall comply with all applicable obligations arising pursuant to the European Communities (

[CFT Hot Meals - St. Declan's NS Ardmore 18048E.docx, schedule of events, same materials, information packs, multilingual and initiatives is r.

• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Schedule periodic meetings to review the relationship and examine performance;.