Please note: all initial enquiries regarding Cold Lunch/Afterschool Club for Primary and Special Schools must be emailed directly to school.meals@welfare.ie Telephone: 071 9138625 |
Schools should not commence procurement for Cold Lunch/Afterschool Club until January 2026 to ensure schools can respond to clarification queries and to hold the site visit.
PROCUREMENT PREPARATION
Before proceeding to the procurement guidance, schools must:
1. Become familiar with the SDG02 TN-06 Technical Guidance
In preparation for your school’s procurement process for the provision of Cold Lunch/Afterschool Club, please review the SDG02 TN-06 Guidance for Existing Primary Schools in Relation to Facilities for Provision of School Meals (Section 2). The document considers technical guidance for cleaning requirements and provides guidance as to how the provision of meals may be impacted by building related statutory requirements such as the Building Regulations, planning consent, health & safety and food legislation. Its aim is to ensure that compliance, where applicable, is achieved.
2. Contact your insurance provider
Schools are advised to contact their insurance provider to discuss the service provision and to ensure there are no insurance implications.
3. Estimate the contract value
In order to identify the appropriate procurement process for appointing a service provider, you must calculate the estimated value of the contract to a maximum 3-year term. For this purpose, you can use the Excel file below:
4. Register on eTenders platform (for contract value more than €50,000)
Please note that the school must have an eTenders account to be able to publish a tender on eTenders platform. See how to register or retrieve an account here.
PROCUREMENT GUIDANCE
Once your school’s contract value is estimated, identify and follow the appropriate procurement process below.
Please note that the documents and guidance below were designed for assisting the publication of Cold Lunch/Afterschool Club tenders only and must not be used as guidance for tendering for any other goods or services.
1. Contract value less than €50,000
When the total contract value is less than €50,000 for a 3-year term, a minimum of three (3) written tenders must be sought.
Document templates and guidance are available here.
2. Contract value between €50,000 and €750,000
When the total contract value is between €50,000 and €750,000 for a 3-year term, a tender must be published on the eTenders platform.
Document templates and guidance are available here.
3. Contract value more €750,000
When the total contract value is more than €750,000 for a 3-year term, a tender must be published on the eTenders platform & The OJEU.
Document templates and guidance are available here.
Please note: all initial enquiries regarding Cold Lunch/Afterschool Club for Primary and Special Schools must be emailed directly to school.meals@welfare.ie Telephone: 071 9138625 |