Written answers

Thursday, 6 October 2005

Department of Foreign Affairs

Departmental Contracts

5:00 pm

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the circumstances in which a contractor that won the bid to provide a replacement system for the issue of passports, reported on by the Comptroller and Auditor General, was a consortium headed by the firm of consultants who had been engaged to conduct the initial review for his Department and which made the recommendation for a replacement system in relation to the cost of an automated passport system; if he is satisfied that normal tendering guidelines were complied with; if he will identify the contractor; the arrangements he will make in order that commercial contracts entered into by his Department will withstand public scrutiny and are at a fully arms length basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26828/05]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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By the late 1990s, the systems in the Passport Office for processing applications were in urgent need of replacement. The technology was obsolete and in some cases no longer supported by the manufacturers. The Passport Office was reliant on a single engineer who had been involved in the original installation of the system to maintain it. The volume of passport applications had grown to the point where the system was overloaded, frequently breaking down and in danger of collapse. The Department was concerned that it was not in a position to provide the high level of service that citizens had a right to expect and that, in a worst case scenario, it might even be unable to issue travel documents in a timely manner to applicants.

KPMG Consulting, which was subsequently renamed and is currently trading under the name BearingPoint, was retained by the Department to review the operation of the passport service and make recommendations for its replacement. Its initial report was provided to the Department in March 1999 and a subsequent report in October 2000 provided an update on certain technical aspects.

The Department appointed a separate consultancy company to provide assistance on procurement matters and to prepare a request for tender, RFT. In order to guarantee fair competition, it was decided to include as much information as possible about the existing system, including the substance of the KPMG reports, in the RFT. The costs in the October 2000 report were accordingly described as outline costs which would provide a general overview of the cost of developing the new system. The specification in the RFT of the functional requirements for the new system was much more detailed and it was on this basis that the different tenders were submitted.

The Department consulted the Department of Finance, CMOD, at all stages, both to obtain sanction for the project and to ensure that appropriate procurement procedures were followed for this contract. The Department of Foreign Affairs is satisfied that sufficient information and time was available to the market to ensure fair competition.

In the event, 27 companies took part in the initial tender process and bids were received from six companies. The successful bid was presented by an international consortium, headed by BearingPoint as lead consortium member, and was the less expensive of two bids which were regarded as technically acceptable. The Department is satisfied that the procedures adopted in this case were fully in accordance with Department of Finance guidelines and followed close co-ordination with that Department. However, the Department is reviewing its procedures for future contracts in the light of the questions raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General and its experience with the project.

The new Irish passport is widely regarded as one of the most advances and secure travel documents in the world. It has been acknowledged by the US authorities as superb and is accepted as fully meeting the new security standards set by the US for visa waiver countries from October 2005. As the Deputy will appreciate, the security of travel documents has taken on even more importance in the post 11 September 2001 context.

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