Request for Tender for the Provision of Televised Facilities for the Houses of the Oireachtas

Short description

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, a body corporate, (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Contracting Authority’) hereby invites tenders from interested parties for the provision of services for the management, operation and maintenance of technical facilities for the televising of parliamentary proceedings and the Oireachtas TV channel.

As the services in question fall within the categorisation of Title III, the Contracting Authority is free to choose any award procedure on condition that it observes the principles of equal treatment and transparency at all times. The Contracting Authority is therefore employing a single stage tendering procedure involving negotiation in order to establish this framework.

Short description

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, the body corporate which is the governing body of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service, by Request for Tender 2020/1001 and OJEU Contract Notice Number 2020/S 120-292393 dated 19 June 2020, invited tenders from interested parties for the provision of services for the management, operation and maintenance of technical facilities for the televising of parliamentary proceedings and the Oireachtas TV channel.

Other additional information

The agreement entered into pursuant to the result of the above procurement procedure as published as Contract Award Notice 6372582020 in OJ/S 252/2020 28/12/2020 was expressed to take effect for 5 years from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025, with the possibility of an extension for 12 months to 31 December 2026. The agreement took the form of a Single Party Framework Agreement with terms and conditions for a principal contract and the possibility, which was not availed of, of other calloffs. The Contracting Authority has responsibility for the televising and transmission of proceedings of the two Houses of the Irish National Parliament (Oireachtas) and the management of ancillary services. The control rooms for the chambers and committee rooms generate broadcast feeds and footage is also archived. Cameras are manually controlled remotely from a broadcast centre. Recorded feeds (both live and archived) are distributed to broadcasters and others. The Contracting Authority has its own specific Broadcast Channel, Oireachtas TV, that carries a curated feed of proceedings along with its own ancillary programming. Key functions, extending to management and administration, operation, maintenance and technical support, and service development, that are expected of the televised facilities provider include overall direction, facilities management with reporting responsibilities, respect for parliamentary procedures, liaison with, and delegated management of, other service providers, staffing of operational, technical and associated administrative areas, camera operation, editing, captioning, sound mixing, incorporation of sign language and subtitles, production of scheduled ancillary programming, including studio debates, documentaries and weekly previews, coverage of onsite and offsite special events, logging, timestamping, and provision of other metadata, drawing up press releases, maintenance of standards, design, implementation, and operation of quality, document, resource, and maintenance management systems, and advice and guidance with regard to streaming, digital transformation, automation, innovation, and technical enhancement. The Contracting Authority intended not to avail of the 12 month extension and Contract Notice 5677742025 published in OJ S 166/2025 01/09/2025 launched a procurement competition for a replacement Framework with particular emphasis on service development. That process failed to elicit any tenders. The Contracting Authority is reviewing the reasons for this and developing a possible revised tender process. In the meantime, it is essential that public access to parliamentary proceedings through broadcasting is maintained. It is imperative for public expectations in a contemporary constitutional context that the Contracting Authority ensure that there is no gap in service at the expiry of the existing agreement. Moreover, the Contracting Authority must allow sufficient time for the design and running of any new procurement competition, including evaluation, award of contract and allowance for a transition period from the incumbent provider (if required). A change of contractor at this stage, for a contract of 12 months’ duration, would impose a significant additional cost on the Contracting Authority, and would involve insuperable technical difficulties such as with regard to interchangeability of, or interoperability with, existing equipment, services or installations procured under the existing agreement, and, as such, would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the Contracting Authority. Additionally, a 12 month interim contract would not be an attractive proposal to the market. Hence the need to secure continued service provision by the original contractor for the extended period of 12 months. Accordingly, the parties to the existing agreement have concurred in proceeding with the 12 month extension, which, in turn, requires raising the advertised ceiling in terms of value of services to be provided and charged for under the existing agreement.

Text

Because of the extended service provision, as well as inflation and other service developments, the estimated value of chargeable services under the Framework by 31 December 2026 will be 9 365 000 EUR. This requires raising the advertised ceiling of services to be provided and charged for under the existing agreement as so extended from the advertised maximum of 7 000 000 EUR. This does not involve an enhancement of more than 50% of the initial value of the Framework Agreement.