1) The ISI will use the Irish Government Procurement portal (www.etenders.gov.ie) for this competition. Access to this portal is free of charge. Interested parties must formally register their expression of interest for this competition on eTenders before they can gain access to the PQQ documentation. All information relating to and including the pre-qualification documents, any clarifications and changes will be issued/published via this portal. The ISI will not accept responsibility for information relayed (or not relayed) via third parties.
2) The ISI will not be responsible for any costs, charges or expenses incurred by candidates or tenderers in participating in this competition, including in the event that the competition is abandoned or terminated.
3) Contract award will be subject to the approval of the competent authorities.
4) It will be a condition of award that candidates are tax compliant.
5) At its absolute discretion, the ISI may elect to terminate this procurement process at any time.
6) Please note in relation to all documents, where reference is made to a particular standard, make, source, process, trademark, type or patent, this is not to be regarded as a de facto requirement. In all such cases it should be understood that such indications are to be treated strictly and solely for reference purposes only, to which the words ‘or equivalent’ will always be appended.
7) Without prejudice to the principle of equal treatment, the ISI is not obliged to engage in a clarification process in respect of PQQ Submissions with missing or incomplete information. Therefore, candidates are advised to ensure that they return fully completed questionnaires in order to avoid the risk of elimination from the competition.
8) The estimated value of the contract is between €3m and €4m over the maximum 10 year term.
9) The contract will be awarded for an initial period of 5 years with an option for the Contracting Authority, at its absolute discretion, to extend the term for up to a further 5 years. Any extension and the length of any such extension will be at the discretion of the Contracting Authority. The term of the Contract shall not exceed 10 years in total.
10) Although the envisaged number of Candidates to be selected is three, the Contracting Authority reserves the right to accept a fewer number of Candidates for the dialogue stage of the competition.
11) The Contracting Authority reserves the right to determine what variants (if any) it will accept during the dialogue stage of the competition