John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I fully agree with the Deputy that we do not want a legal quagmire surrounding the national conference centre, which is why I repeat that any issues regarding the sites proposed by the tenderers for the national conference centre are matters for their respective owners and Departments. The procedures involved in a public private partnership are complex.

As part of the procedural requirements a public sector benchmark exercise and a benefit assessment were required before the detailed proposals could be initiated. In addition the preparation of the detailed project contract documentation was demanding and time consuming with details requiring careful scrutiny and consideration. The issue of the tender documentation to tenderers was followed by a lengthy process of consultation with the tenders intended, inter alia, to enable the OPW to provide clarification and where appropriate to take account of issues raised by tenderers thereby helping to ensure the quality and robustness of the tenders to be submitted. More recently the tenders received were required to undergo a rigorous and thorough assessment and evaluation. However, the report of the evaluation panel has been submitted to the steering group and we expect a provisional preferred tenderer to be designated shortly.

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