Clontarf to City Centre Update – September 2021

Officials involved with the Clontarf to City Centre Project provided me with an update today on the current status of the proposal.

On Friday 24^th September last, the City Council issued the Letter of Intent for the construction contract to the most economically advantageous tenderer (bidding contractor). Simultaneously, regret letters were issued to the two unsuccessful tenderers. The Council is now in the statutory 14-day standstill period (where contract award is prohibited) in order to give the unsuccessful tenderers an opportunity to challenge the outcome of the tender assessment. This period ends at close of business on Monday 11^th October. Whilst a challenge is a possibility and would further delay contract award, we are confident that our tender assessment procedure for this project is robust enough to withstand it.

From information provided me, I understand that in the event that no challenge materialises, there are a few more hurdles to clear before the Letter of Acceptance is issued to the preferred bidder, which will bind Dublin City Council into the construction contract:

1.       As the Approving Authority, i.e. funding agency, the board of the National Transport Authority will have to formally issue approval for the project to proceed to construction at their monthly meeting.

2.       The Corporate Project Governance Board of Dublin City Council, which oversees all of our capital projects costing more than €0.5 million, will also have to formally issue approval for the project to proceed to construction at their monthly meeting. This is an essential part of Dublin City Council’s project management procedures.

3.       The preferred bidder will have to complete some due diligence procedures, for example arranging the necessary insurance cover for the works and providing evidence of tax clearance.

Dublin City Council expects these tasks to be completed throughout October 2021. Officials also aim to be sufficiently advanced with the acquisition of the necessary licences/permits for the works from key third parties (e.g. Córas Iompair Éireann/Iarnród Éireann) before awarding the contract.

The key thing is that I believe Dublin City Council will award a contract for this scheme no earlier than November 2021.

I hope this information is of assistance to you but if you have any specific questions or queries arising from the details above, please email me at RayMcAdam@gmail.com.