FOI/REQ/05/011

20 July, 2005

Dear

I refer to your request of 2 June, 2005, under the terms ofthe Freedom ofInformation
Acts, 1997 and 2003 (FoI Acts) in which you requested:

1. A list of all public services contracts, in excess of the EU Procurement

Thresholds, awarded by the Department of Foreign Affairs in respect of the Irish
EU Presidency;

2. The total or estimated value of each contract;

3. Where, when and for how long each contract was advertised;

4. The name of the companies/individuals who submitted tenders, and

5. The name of the successful company/individual

Decision Reached

The EU threshold (exclusive of VAT) applicable from 1 January, 2002 until 31

December, 2003 was €162,293. This amount was reduced to €154,014 from 1
January, 2004. For the purposes ofthis reply, I have provided details of all contracts
above €154,014.

The Department of Foreign Affairs entered into contractual arrangements which

exceed €154,014 with 13 companies in respect of the Presidency ofthe European
Union. Details of these companies are set out in Annex A together with the
information requested in points 2, 3 and 5 of your request. The figures provided in
Annex A represent expenditure by the Department of Foreign Affairs only and not
that of other Government Departments.

With regard to point 4 above, which refers to your request for the names of the
companies/individuals who submitted tenders, Section 27(1) (b) of the Freedom of
Information Acts indicates that "a head shall refuse to grant a request. ..if disclosure
could reasonably be expected to result in a material financial loss or gain to the person
to whom the information relates, or could prejudice the competitive position of that
person in the conduct of his or her profession or business or otherwise in his or her
occupation".
 I have decided not to release the names of those companies who were unsuccessful in
obtaining.the contracts on offer as this could prejudice their competitive position in
the future by making public the fact that they were unsuccessful in obtaining
particular public sector contracts. In a competitive market, publicising such
information may give competitors an advantage.

In invoking Section 27,.1am required to consider the public interest in releasing or not
releasing the record concerned. In favour of release such information is the public
interest in openness and transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
Among the public interest factors against release are the importance of ensuring that
providers of information are not prejudiced in their commercial dealings.

As I have supplied details of those companies who were successful in obtaining the
contracts on offer and the amount of exchequer funding paid to them, I believe that the
public interest in openness and transparency has been satisfied. On this occasion,
therefore, the balance of public interest lies with ensuring that companies who applied for
and failed to obtain these contracts are not prejudiced in their future business dealings.

A copy of Section 27 as amended is attached for your information.

Rights of Appeal

Should you wish to appeal this decision, you may do so by writing to the Freedom of
Information Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs, 80 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2. In
making an appeal, please quote the above reference number and enclose a cheque or
postal order for €75 made payable to the Secretary General, Department of Foreign
Affairs.

You should make your appeal within 4 weeks from the date of this notification.
However, the making of a late appeal may be permitted in appropriate circumstances.
The appeal will involve a complete reconsideration of the matter by a more senior
member of the staff of this Department.

Yours sincerely

Emer Whelan
Assistant Principal

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 Annex A

1. Provision of Bandwidth and Routers for Embassies and Missions Abroad

This contract was divided in to 5 Lots:

Lot Awarded to Value

1 Africa Datasat 1,611,320
2 China and East Timor
5 Europe
3 United States of America Hibernia Atlantic 109,145
4 Routers Lan Communications 440,000

The contract was advertised on the e-tenders website and in the Official Journal of the
EU from 10/09/2003 to llam on 8/10/2003 (ref - RFT422/4268).

2. Provision oflCT Services for Ireland's Presidency ofthe European Union, 2004

The contract was awarded to Eircom and valued at €1,694,104. However, as

sponsorship of €794,600 was received from Eircom, the Department's outlay was
€899,504.

The contract was advertised on the e-tenders website and in the Official Journal of the
EU from 7/08/2003 to llam on 30/09/2003 (ref - RFT422/4531).

3. Development and Management of a Presidency Website Service for Ireland's

Presidency of the European Union, 2004

This contract was divided in to 5 Lots

Lot Awarded to Value

1 Website design and development Esat BT 638,339.49
2 Information Publication E-training 1,047,201.47
3 Translation
4 Hosting LGCSBI 454,955.40
5 Webcasts Servecast 118,150.00

The contract was advertised on the e-tenders website and in the Official Journal of the
EU from 24/12/2002 to llam on 21/02/03 (ref - RFT422/4531).

4. Design of the Presidency Logo/Branding of the Presidency

Red Dog Design won the competition for design of the Presidency logo following a
competition held in line with the Society of Designers in Ireland open competition
guidelines. 34 companies entered the competition and 4 were shortlisted. Three
logos were subsequently placed on the schools website, Scoilnet, and, following a
vote by pupils in just under 500 schools, Red Dog's logo was chosen as Ireland's
Presidency logo.

Red Dog were paid €248,580 (ex vat) by the Department of Foreign Affairs during
the course of the Presidency. Expenditure of€138,020 (55 %) covered printing of

I The Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) is a public sector organisation.
meeting booklets, back-drops, signage etc and the work carried out in the Meeting and
Press areas of the Council Building in Brussels. £23,565 (9%) ofthe expenditure was
on design work and £16,394 (7%) was used to purchase advertising space in
newspapers and on local radio to promote the Presidency website.

The balance accounts for project management costs relating to the design of the logo,
the campaign to promote the presidency website and a regional campaign to promote
an awareness of the Presidency.

5. Accreditation Badges and Security Clearance

The service sought was the provision of a security accreditation service for all
Presidency events.

Expressions of interest were received from 4 companies following initial telephone

contacts with 10-15 companies. Given the scale of the Presidency, most companies
contacted indicated that they would not be in a position to provide the service
required.

Initial estimates were that the costs of this service would not exceed the EU threshold.
However, increased use ofbadging due to significant security concerns for certain
events, the large numbers of service staff requiring badges (hotels, broadcasters,
transporters etc) as well as a number of very large events such as the Enlargement
Day on May 1,2004 and the EU-US summit meant that expenditure on this service
exceeded the threshold.

The service was provided by Lamination Services who received €111,461.35 in

respect of Department of Foreign Affairs meetings. In addition, the Department of
Foreign Affairs covered the costs of the Enlargement Day and the EU-US Summit, on
behalf of the Department ofthe Taoiseach. The cost of security accreditation for
these events amounted to €117,788.92. The total paid to Lamination Services by the
Department of Foreign Affairs was, therefore, €229,250.27.

6. Catering

In its capacity as manager of State venues (e.g. Dublin Castle, Farm1eigh),the Office
of Public Works (OPW) engaged Corporate Solutions as catering manager for the EU
Presidency to assist in relation to all catering logistics, including catering management
of events. Corporate Solutions selected the caterers from an approved panel and
supervised the service provided. All departments were required to use Corporate
Solutions for Presidency events at State venues. The Department of Foreign Affairs
paid Corporate Solutions approximately €500,000 in respect of26 events in State
venues.

Due to their proven expertise and experience at Presidency events, Corporate

Solutions was engaged by the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide catering and
management services for three Presidency events in non-State venues - the Informal
Foreign Ministers meeting in Tullamore, the Asia-Europe meeting in the K-Club and
the EU-US Summit in Dromoland. For these events, Corporate Solutions used the
same panel of caterers it used for State venues. For each event, Corporate Solutions
invited three quotes from the panel. Of the €350,000 billed by Corporate Solutions
for these events, the management fee charged by the company amounted to
approximately £35,000.
7. Supply of helicopters for the transport of Heads of State and Government
between Farmleigh and DublinlBaldonnel Airports for the European Union
Enlargement ceremony, 1 May, 2004.

Contractual arrangements were made for the leasing and operation of helicopter
transport requirements for the European Union Enlargement ceremony held on 1 May,
2004. Irish Helicopters Ltd, working in conjunction with Canadian Helicopter
Company (CHC) Scotia (UK) and Premier Helicopters, provided the helicopter
transport for the event. The initial costs of the leasing and operation of the service as
contracted was €138,939.39. The requirement for advertising in the Official Journal
of the European Union was not applicable as the estimated cost of the service was
below the EU threshold. Due to unforeseen operational requirements which arose on
the day, the actual cost of the services provided was €159,723.10.

The Department of Foreign Affairs hired the services ofMr Fred Balcombe,
Helicopter Consultant, to provide advice and assistance for the helicopter transport
service for the event. Among the services provided by Mr Balcombe were the
inspection and recommendation of proposed landing sites, meeting with the
regulatory authorities to oversee requirements relating to the provision of safe
helicopter operations and arranging for the lease of appropriate helicopters to meet the
transport requirements for the event. Mr Balcombe was paid €4,235 for his services.

With regard to the information requested in relation to the advertisement of the

contract, it was the case that, appropriate to this specialised market, a process of
competitive restricted tendering was conducted in accordance with the relevant public
procurement guidelines. A representative sample of potential bidders in a number of
countries were contacted for competitive quotations with the objective of seeking
value for money.

8. Management of Presidency Transport Services

I understand that records and information regarding the service provided by Murrays
Chauffeur Drive has been sent to you following earlier requests under the Fol Acts.

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