INFO ON TENDERING
In recent times the HSE has commenced advertising new service packages on the Dept of Finance E-tender website (http://www.etenders.gov.ie). The Dept of Finance centrally advertises public contracts on this website on behalf of the various state agencies, in this case the HSE.
Tendering for public contracts
Many of the concerned members that contacted DFI would be unfamiliar with this type of tender process, in particular in relation to services for people with disabilities. From the research we carried out over the past few days, it has been positively confirmed that an increasing number of services will be put out to tender in this format, including those for people with disabilities, e.g. Personal Assistance Services/Home Assist Services, Home Supports, etc. It is expected that this type of tendering process will be rolled out speedily and will in many cases be extended to an EU-wide bidding audience. The criteria for tendering are generally speaking quite open, which means that services that are currently provided by a voluntary agency can be tendered for by a private entity and vice versa.
This type of tendering is a relatively new and indeed highly competitive process for many voluntary disability organisations. This competitive process will be very challenging for voluntary organisations as many of the added values that you as disability organisations have, may not be considered to the fullest extend. Also, the ancillary efforts that many voluntary organisations carry out, such as fund-raising, volunteer input, etc., are probably not very likely to be considered as these tender processes are very much focused on the bottom-line price for a service.
However, it should also be noted that this type of tendering may also open up new service & revenue avenues for voluntary organisations within or indeed beyond their own local area.
Awareness
The only reason that some voluntary organisations were informed about last week’s call for expressions of interest was due to a courtesy call from their local HSE office. However, not all voluntary agencies providing relevant services were informed, which puts them in a disadvantageous position from the outset.
In order to ensure that your organisation is informed about all new or renewed tendered contracts, we strongly advise you to sign up as a “Supplier” to the E-Tenders website. Once signed up, you will receive automatic updates on new tenders and additional tender information. Also, we would encourage you to regularly visit the E-Tender website to check for other updates. For example, it may be possible that the HSE centrally or in another geographical area may describe the service you deliver differently, i.e. uses different terminology. This could possibly mean that you miss out on a potential tender process. Therefore, a regular check is recommended.
To sign up as a Supplier register here and follow the on-screen instructions:
http://www.etenders.gov.ie/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fmembership%2fmember_main.aspx
Current Tender
For your information, if you have not received the details of the current call for “Expression of Interest” for “enhanced home care packages”, please note that the deadline for this call is 11th November 2010. Register on the E-Tenders website and search for the relevant entry. You will be able to extract all tender details once you are signed up as a Supplier.
Future Support
DFI is fully aware that this is a new, challenging departure for our member organisations. However, there is little doubt that E-Tender is going to be with us from now on.
