Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

A question arose at the meeting about the relative cost of the Abtran bid. The Accounting Officer was asked the reason for selecting the most expensive bid, and she replied that the organisation did not select the most expensive. We noted in the report that Abtran received maximum points for each of the tender criteria except for ultimate cost, which was significantly higher in both tenders than the next best candidate. I included in my correspondence two tables setting out the tenders for document management and call centres, respectively. The values in the blue columns of the tables are the maximum scores available, which can be compared with the scores for each of the under bidders. The maximum score of 3,000 points for cost went to under bidder A, which means it was the least expensive. There is not inconsistency of fact but it is a question of how one examines the information. The bid price from Abtran was €1 million, compared to €600,000 from the next best candidate. Our report drew attention to this. Under bidder C proposed a cost of €1.7 million.