Support and Maintenance of the Automated Visa Application and Tracking System (AVATS) for the Department of Justice

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 “Support and Maintenance of the Automated Visa Application and Tracking System (AVATS) for the Department of Justice” 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: Support and Maintenance of the Automated Visa Application and Tracking System (AVATS) for the Department of Justice
• ority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contract may amount to some €2.5million (excluding VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions
• t IT service management standard level and adhere to ITILV4/ISO20000 aligned procedures and policies relative to Incident, Change and Problem Manage
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• tion (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of 48 months (“the Term”)
• [RFT AVATS Support Services 04.08.23.docx] Request for Tenders dated
• 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
• [RFT AVATS Support Services 04.08.23.docx] from any other person will NOT be accepted, acknowledged or responded to.
• 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 AVATS Support Services 04.08.23.docx] 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. 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 - A response where serious reservations exist. This may be because, for example, insufficient detail is provided, or the response has fundamental flaws, or is seriously inadequate or seriously lacks credibility with a high risk of non-delivery.
• CSP The current/incumbent service provider of the support and maintenance contract.
• A number of system enhancements have been made to AVATS over its history, reflecting such factors as changes in national policy, increased demand for visas and upgrades of the AVATS technologies. These enhancements have been carried out by the CSP. As an indicator of the value of enhancements in recent years, expenditure on them for the period 2019-2022 totalled €393.7k, of which €79.8k was on 15 small-scale improvements and the remaining €319.8k on two projects.
• A strategic modernisation programme is currently being developed by ISD, reviewing how

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.
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — 2 Selection Criteria Annual Turnover Requirement Tenderers must have a minimum annual turnover of €833,000 for the last three financial years 2020,
• 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.
• 2 Selection Criteria Annual Turnover Requirement Tenderers must have a minimum annual turnover of €833,000 for the last three financial years 2020,

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) — 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:
• If and where Tenderers submit a price of €0 for any of the requirements, €1.00 will be added to all Tenderers prices for these requirements to enable a compar
• 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 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
• 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.
• (ii) Tenderers must have successfully performed a minimum of three contracts for the last three years 2020, 2021 and 2022 (or where the date of establishment is more recent for each year the Tenderer has been established), which demonstrates their ability to provide services similar in nature and scope to those described in Appendix 1 of this 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)
• 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:
• ority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed Services Contract may amount to some €2.5million (excluding VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions
• [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
• tion (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of 48 months (“the Term”)
• 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.

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 AVATS Support Services 04.08.23.docx, RFT AVATS Support Services 04.08.23.docx] Request for Tenders dated, RFT Requirements.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: RFT. ALL TENDERERS MUST RETURN, with their Tender, a scanned signed copy of the Ten, Appendix 3, printed on the Tenderer’s letterhead. The Contracting Authority must be able, RFT, the Contracting Authority will deal with all matters relating to this Competit.