Arthur Cox has a widely acclaimed and leading Public Procurement practice with its team having a wealth of knowledge and experience of Public Procurement law and practice. The team is experienced in all aspects of the Public Procurement law rules, including the relevant EC Directives and the decisions of the Courts of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the European Court of Justice. The Public Procurement team advises particularly public bodies and utilities (public as well as private) in relation to one-off major projects as well as general Public Procurement law queries which arise in the management of procurement procedures and in the day to day affairs of many businesses whether awarding authorities, suppliers or funders.
The team advises on the current Public Sector (goods, supplies and works) and the Utilities Directives (water, energy, transport and postal sectors) (now in each case the 2004 Directives); (as transposed in Ireland (including, in the case of the Public Directive by the European Communities (Award of Public Authorities’ Contracts) Regulations, 2006 (Statutory Instrument No. 329 of 2006)) and Northern Ireland (including S.I. Nos. 5 and 6 of 2006) (implementation required since 31 January 2006) and the Remedies Directives and (especially in Ireland, the very important) national guidelines and other administrative measures on public procurement.
We maintain close links with officials at Irish and EC levels and with other key bodies including the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) in the Republic and the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) in Northern Ireland helping to keep us fully au fait with current policy thinking. This further assists us in bringing and/or defending challenges (including with our Litigation colleagues before the Irish Courts and the European Commission and European Courts) as well as making submissions to other bodies such as the Government Contracts Committee.
Legal services offered include the following:
- developing Public Procurement law strategies and planning projects and tender documentation and drafting it with a commercial focus for clients in the award of and participation in competitions
- providing Public Procurement law advice on the structuring of projects in compliance with the Public Procurement law rules (which may affect radically the structure and timing of a project) and including, where appropriate, so as to avoid or minimise application of mandatory rules and/or to expedite project or procurement delivery
- advising on the appropriate procurement procedure (open, restricted, competitive dialogue, negotiated procedure, with or without prior call for competition) and preparing and/or reviewing documentation generated by contracting authorities as part of procurement processes, including notices published in the OJEU and/or eTenders (Ireland), tender information packages and tender documentation
- monitoring the conduct of procurement processes and assisting with tender evaluation
- framing detailed submissions to the European Commission on the position of entities under European Communities Public Procurement Law
- providing detailed advice on procurement and related issues in a range of PPP and other projects, including on airports, roads, bridges, national stadium, acquisition of aircraft, waste facilities and energy projects
- advising on the use of framework agreements, qualification lists, electronic auctions, reverse auctions and dynamic purchasing activities
- advising on other domestic aspects of Public Procurement including (in the Republic of Ireland) the National Guidelines (“Green Book”) (1994 and 2004) and related issues including those arising under the Government Guidelines for State Bodies (1992), the Code of Practice in 2001 and Circular 02/40 from the Department of Finance
- audit of procurement procedures including tender documentation to ensure compliance with Public Procurement laws
- advising on major outsourcing projects including in Technology
- advising on the validity of arrangements where Public Procurement rules have been breached
- advising on information entitlements under Public Procurement Law and other legislation including the Freedom of Information Acts the EC (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations and the Data Protection Acts
- in conjunction with our Litigation Group, advising on remedies (such as monetary damages, injunction, discovery and interrogations) including in the Courts of Ireland and before the EC Institutions
Our clients include a wide range of government bodies, public bodies, entities in the utilities sector including those enjoying “special or exclusive rights” as well as parties involved or otherwise having an interest in the outcome of procurement processes such as tenderers, funders and counterparts. Recent experience includes:
- Advising the Railway Procurement Agency on various matters including Public Procurement, freedom of information, drafting of tenders and contracts and general commercial agreements in relation to the construction and operation of the Luas light rail network.
- Advising the National Development Finance Agency and the Department of Education and Science on all aspects of the procurement of the appointment of ranges of technical advisors including for the Schools PPP Programme, the procurement of the Schools Bundle and the Radiation/Oncology projects on a PPP basis. Advice includes structuring of the competitions in compliance with Public Procurement law, drafting tender documentation, including instructions to tenderers, pre-qualification questionnaires, invitation to negotiate, OJEU Notices, drafting contracts, advices on clarifications during the competitions, issue of addenda and clarifications and drafting of contract award notices.
- Advising the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) on the Regional Broadband Project Phases I and II including the procurement of regional broadband and drafting tender and contract documentation for the appointment of advisors and contractors to perform the project works, liaison with technical advisors and Local Authorities and advising on all aspects of procuring the Managed Services Entity (e-Net Teo) on a PPP basis to operate and maintain the networks and securing landmark State Aid clearance from European Commission.
- Preparing standard guidelines for use by Local Authorities on “Public Procurement Law and Freedom of Information”.
- Advising an Irish Government Department on procuring innovative technology developments.
- Advising Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE) (transport holding company in Republic), Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) (IE) and Dublin Bus (BAC) on various projects including the Cuttings and Embankments Programme, Rosslare Europort Harbour, new Bus Station at Broadstone and Kildare Route Project. We have advised on numerous projects for CIE within IE and BAC. We have advised on Public Procurement law matters including in relation to procurement on the basis of framework agreements; the use of negotiated procedure without prior competition; qualification systems, drafting of tender documents and contracts for the appointment of multi-disciplinary advisors and construction contractors in respect of the relevant projects.
- Advising in relation to a number of significant procurements of information technology including for Dublin Institute of Technology and other educational establishments.
- Advising entities in the waste, healthcare, insurance, transport, financial/banking and other sectors on remedies available to them in Ireland and Northern Ireland in respect of their position under contracts subject to the EC Public Procurement rules.
- Advising telecommunications operators, including eircom and other operators, on the acquisition of Big Ticket equipment including through tax-based structures.
- Advising Telecom Éireann (as it then was) and Radio Teilifís Éireann on a contested tender procedure in connection with the €635+ million sale of Cablelink Limited to NTL.
- Advising power generators, other utilities and/or their funders on the procurement of infrastructure (including power stations) and associated equipment.
- Advising Northern Ireland Railways/Translink (as purchaser) on the recently completed procurement of 23 new train sets (over €100 million).
- Conducting extensive reviews of procurement policy, documentation and practices for (amongst others) a major Irish health authority, Dublin Airport Authority and other businesses.
- Advising extensively on substantive rights in Public Procurement and conducting High Court litigation under Judicial Review in respect of significant recent projects including in relation to financial services, sophisticated capital equipment and a large national sports complex.
- Advising on the procurement strategy for particularly complex projects including the use of the Competitive Dialogue (introduced under the 2004 Public Directive) and Negotiated Procedure (with or without prior call for competition) including in relation to the exemption for research and development, changes in consortia, confidentiality and avoiding and dealing with conflicts of interest in respect of the evaluation panel and advisors to such panel
- On Track - Projects Group Newsletter, Spring 2010
- Construction and Engineering, Education, Health and Justice Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, Health and Safety, Manufacturing and Process Engineering, Maritime and Shipping, Project Finance, Projects, Public Law, Transport, PPP and PFI, Waste Management, Water and Wastewater, Public Procurement
- 07.05.2010 | Format:
