• [MainactivGeneral]

Applications for Public Funding for the development of a Multifunctional Event Centre in Cork City

[RealisationCa]

The development of a multifunctional venue of scale has been an objective of Cork City Council (the “Council”) since the 1990’s. The existence of market failure has meant that without some level of public funding or subvention, potential investors would not proceed with the development of such a venue. In recognition of this the Irish Government has made up to €10 million available as part of the public sector support for this project and the Council will make further funding up to €4m available as a non repayable grant with any additional funding sought over this to be repayable on terms / timeframe as proposed by tenders at tender stage where agreeable to the Council having regard to the Council’s budget. The Event Centre must be capable of accommodating a range of events including concerts, festivals, family entertainment, cultural, sport, exhibitions, conferences and trade shows. On this basis, a PwC led team has been appointed to run a competitive process for public funding to part fund the construction of a multifunctional large scale Event Centre in Cork City (the “Project”). The award of the Project is subject to the availability of sufficient funding to the Developer (as herein defined) to meet the Project’s requirements.

Initially a Competitive Dialogue procedure was undertaken however a contract was not awarded under that procedure and the Project is now subject to a Competitive Negotiated Procedure. The Project’s funding requirements will be determined during this public procurement procedure. A Competitive Negotiated Procedure is being adopted to ensure that any initial tenders submitted are adapted to make provision for the delivery of the Project in a manner best suited to the Councils’ needs. Fundamental to the granting of any funding is that potential developers can demonstrate that they have the capacity to deliver an operating multi-functional event centre within a prescribed timeframe and within the budget as outlined in their proposal. Equally the capability to execute to the construction plans and deliver to the requirements will need to be clearly shown while also demonstrating the sustainability of the operation of the Event Centre over the long term.

Parent Company guarantees will be required if applicant is reliant on parent. Aplicant will be required to ensure a performance bond is put in place by the Construction Entity

Appropriate security will be required to secure the public funds

A grouping if successful must be prepared to contract through a single entity with members having joint and several liability

EC02

The contracting authority will not conclude a reviewable public contract to which a standstill period applies in accordance with Irish Statutory Instrument SI130 of 2010, until after the expiry of the standstill period which commences on the day following the date of notification of concerned candidates and tenderers. The duration of the standstill period will be 14 calender days where notifications are sent electronically or by fax and 16 calendar days where these are sent by any other means. The Statutory Instrument mentioned above provides that review procedures are available in the High Court to a person who has or has had an interest in obtaining the reviewable public contract and alleges that he or she has been harmed or is at the risk of being harmed by an infringement of the law in relation to that reviewable public contract.