Request for Tenders for the provision of School Stationery Kits and distribution nationally under the European Social Fund (ESF plus) Food and Basic Materials SSB050C

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

The Office of Government Procurement ran this procurement for “Request for Tenders for the provision of School Stationery Kits and distribution nationally under the European Social Fund (ESF plus) Food and Basic Materials SSB050C” 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:

• erm of the Services Contract, including any extensions; however, a nominal fee of €1.00 will be used for evaluation purposes
• ority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contract may amount to some €3,500,000 (excl
• The KAM shall have a minimum of three (3) years paid Key Account Manager role experience in a similar position in liaising with clients at senior management level to report on service performance
• The KAM shall have a minimum of three (3) years paid Key Account Manager role experience in a similar position in liaising with clients at senior management level to report on service performance issues and to ensure the implementa
• nmental and/ or energy management systems standards such as ISO 14001 or ISO 50001 or equivalents
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• nmental and/ or energy management systems standards such as ISO 14001 or ISO 50001 or equivalents; The successful tenderer will be required to work w
• for similar services provided successfully within the last 36 months
• 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”).
• No publicity regarding this Competition or any Services Contract pursuant to this Competition is permitted unless and until the Contracting Authority has given its prior written consent to the relevant communication.
• The terms “Registrable Interest” and “Relative” shall be interpreted as per Section 2 of the Ethics in Public Office Acts 1995 and 2001, copies of which are available at www.irishstatutebook.ie. The Contracting Authority will, at its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or terminating any Services Contract entered into by a Tenderer.
• [RFT for the Provision of School Stationery Kits.docx] individual employee(s) or agent(s) of a Tenderer or Subcontractor(s) must be fully disclosed to the Contracting Authority as soon as the conflict or potential conflict is or becomes apparent. Tenderers are required to declare that the preparation of their Tender was carried out independently. In the event of any actual or potential conflict of interest, the Contracting Authority may invite Tenderers to propose means by which the conflict of interest might be removed and in circumstances where there are links between Tenderers, the Contracting Authority may seek further information to confirm the Tenders have been prepared independently. The Contracting Authority will, at its absolute discretion, decide on the appropriate course of action, which may in appropriate circumstances include eliminating a Tenderer from this Competition or any Mini-Competition or terminating any Framework Agreement or Services Contract entered into by a Tenderer. 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.

• Title: Request for Tenders for the provision of School Stationery Kits and distribution nationally under the European Social Fund (ESF plus) Food and Basic Materials SSB050C
• School Stationery Kits and distribution nationally under the European Social Fund (ESF+) Food & Basic Materials
• The Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training (EIST) Programme funded by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+ https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/07e5b-esf-food-and-basic-material-support/# addresses material deprivation as a specific objective through the provision of food and basic materials. The objective is to help people take their first steps out of poverty and social exclusion by addressing their most basic needs i.e. food and or basic materials.
• In Ireland, the ESF+ Food & Basic Material Support replaces the successful Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) programme that ended in 2022.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — not specified for this tender
• Insurance — not specified for this tender
• 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

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
• Each Tenderer is required to accept the provisions of this RFT. 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 RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent
• 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 RFT, 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.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 36 months. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• Sector: Office Supplies & Equipment
• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• erm of the Services Contract, including any extensions; however, a nominal fee of €1.00 will be used for evaluation purposes
• 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:
• [insert number]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
• 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 RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competition through a single nominated entity authorised to represent

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Numeric qualification gates were only partially visible, so eligibility certainty required full pack review.
• 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 — specialist operator with compliant procurement governance and evidencable experience.
• 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 School Stationery Kits.docx, RFT for the Provision of School Stationery Kits.docx] Request for Tenders dated 03/, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule, Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement, Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer.