Bus firm takes case over €166m school tender

A COMPANY which wants to tender for the €166 million school transport contract has brought a court action against the Minister for Education over his arrangements with Bus Éireann for provision of the service.

Student Transport Scheme Ltd claims the tender process, as allegedly operated under a contract which the Minister has made with Bus Éireann or its associated companies, lacks transparency. It also claims an alleged agreement with the Minister and Bus Éireann for provision of school transport infringes various EU directives and regulations.

The action was admitted to the Commercial Court yesterday by Mr Justice Peter Kelly who indicated to Tony O’Connor SC, for STS, that Bus Éireann should be a party to the proceedings as it could be adversely affected by them.

The judge allowed Michael Cush SC, for the Minister, time to respond to the claims and adjourned the matter for further directions to next month. Mr Cush said it appeared the arrangements with Bus Éireann had been in place since 1968 except for one alteration in 1975 and the case.

STS was incorporated earlier this year with the intention of tendering for the school transport scheme here and says it has executed a “memorandum of understanding” with a large US-based school bus manufacturer and distributor.

In an affidavit, Tim Doyle, of Pimlico, Dublin, managing director of STS, said his information was that Bus Éireann had secured €166 million for provision of school transport services for about 123,000 children daily for the year ending December 31st 2010.

The Minister had failed to provide STS with any details about the contract for the 2011/12 school year although the Department of Education had published earlier in 2011 a review entitled “School Transport, A value for money review of the school transport scheme – March 2011”, he said.

Insofar as the school transport report revealed any reasons for not putting the contract out to tender, they did not stand up to closer inspection and could not displace the statutory and European law requirement to put procurement of services out to the widest possible competition, he said.

STS was working with a US-based school bus manufacturing and distribution group and, if it won the tender, hoped to open an assembly plant to produce buses in Ireland, Mr Doyle said. Properly designed school buses were more efficient and economical than the existing transport scheme involving the reuse of “retired” motor coaches and buses. The continuing inclusion of private bus operators was also of crucial importance to the business model, he added.