Five tenders have been received to build Sports Campus Ireland at Abbotstown, Co Dublin. The closing date for tenders was June 21st.
Details of the bids are not being released by Campus and Stadium Ireland Development Ltd (CSID), the State company overseeing the project, because the information is commercially sensitive.
It will be several weeks before a report on the bids will be made to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, according to a CSID spokesman.
The Minister said yesterday he had appointed a consultant company to carry out the overview of the costs of the development. Dr McDaid said the consultant, High-Point Rendel, would not only look at the costs of the project but also assess the benefits of the project itself and the ancillary developments at Abbotstown, where the stadium will be based. He said their report would be ready for submission to the Government before the end of September.
The CSID spokesman said details of the bids were undergoing technical assessment, involving lawyers, accountants, quantity surveyors and engineers. They would then go before an assessment panel.
It is understood that the five companies expected to tender had done so by June 21st, and following the assessment they will be whittled down. According to the spokesman it would be several weeks before CSID would be able to report to the Minister on the bids.
The spokesman said he did not think the continuation of the bidding process was at odds with the work of the consultants. "I don't think it interferes with the consultants at all. They are empowered to talk to everybody involved," he said.
High-Point Rendel was selected as consultant following a competitive tendering process open to companies based in the European Union. The company was involved in the Commonwealth Games stadium in Malaysia and developments relating to international airports in Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Its work will be overseen by a steering group of the secretary-generals of the Departments of the Taoiseach, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Tourism, Sport and Recreation, plus a second secretary from the Department of Finance.
High-Point Rendel is part of an international consultancy. It will carry out the work with its subsidiary, Vantage Management Consultants Ltd, and its Dublin associate, Murray O'Brien Ltd.
Dr McDaid said in May the cost of the project was estimated at £550 million, £320 million for the campus and £230 million for the stadium. The private sector was prepared to invest about £150 million, mostly for commercial facilities, and, with the £50 million donation from J.P. McManus, the cost to the Exchequer would be about £350 million.
The CSID had hoped to secure "a specific Government decision" on Sports Campus Ireland in July, based on the figures in the outline bids. This now seems unlikely until the review is completed.