THE DUBLIN Airport Authority (DAA) paid more than €500,000 towards the costs of the competition to find a third-party operator for Terminal 2 (T2) at Dublin airport, although it had an interest in securing the contract itself.
The tender process was scrapped this week by the Government, which then mandated the DAA to operate the terminal.
Figures supplied to The Irish Timesby the Department of Transport show that it paid €699,219 for the competition process, which was run by three consulting firms: Goodbody Corporate Finance, Matheson Ormsby Prentice and Mott McDonald.
Phase one cost €195,000 and was paid for by the department. But the DAA picked up the tab for the second phase, which cost €504,219.63. This is likely to surprise many observers of the process, given that the DAA was due to pitch for the contract itself.
The consultants appointed by the department sought tenders for a facilities management company to handle cleaning, maintenance and security screening at T2, which is due to open in November.
In parallel with this, the DAA was to supply a benchmark figure to the consultants outlining its costs for providing these services.
The consultants were expected to decide which party should get the contract. It is understood that the process did not reach the point where the DAA supplied its figure.
The department scrapped the process this week, saying none of the third-party tenders met its technical criteria.
When contacted by The Irish Times, a spokesman for the DAA said: "There were two phases to the competition process. The first phase involved advice from the consortium to the Minister [for Transport, Noel Dempsey] on how best to structure the competition. The fee for this advice was paid by the Department of Transport.
“The second phase of the competition was a tender process. This was managed and run by the consortium on behalf of the Department of Transport. The fee for this phase was also paid by the department . . . as the consortium was working on behalf of the department.
“The Department of Transport decided to recoup the cost of the second phase of the competition by invoicing the DAA for the costs. The department’s view was that since the benefits of going to the market for services such as cleaning, maintenance and security screening at T2 would flow to the DAA in terms of a lower cost operating model for the new terminal, it was appropriate that the costs of the competition be recouped from the DAA.”
It added: “The DAA was separately invoiced by the Department of Transport and had no direct financial relationship with the consortium.”
The Department of Transport declined to comment beyond the contents of the DAA’s statement.
