John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Originally the last date for the receipt of tenders was 18 March 2005. What happened subsequently was that the national conference centre project team, headed by the Office of Public Works, became engaged in detailed consultations with the relevant tenderers and had to reply to various questions. In any event, through various requests received from some of the tenderers, it was decided to facilitate them and to extend the final date for receipt of tenders to 20 May 2005.

There are two processes involved subsequent to that. One relates to the selection of the provisional preferred tender. The second relates to the awarding of the contract and this is clearly a matter for the Government. I expect the Department will be in a position in the summer to select the provisional preferred tenderer. The issue will then be referred back to the Government in accordance with the procurement requirements and with the Government's requirements. At that point the Government will make a decision whether to award the contract. The awarding of the contract is the objective I have set myself and I hope it will be awarded by the end of the year, if it is to be awarded.

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