Invitation to Tender for Lotus Domino/Notes

and web development, support and related services

Courts Service
An tSeirbhís Chúirteanna

Open Procedure

November 2007

Issued by : Information & Communications Technology Directorate

The Courts Service
Phoenix House
15-24 Phoenix Street North
Smithfield
Dublin 7

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 Contents
Section
Page

a. Conditions of Tender 2

b. Article 45 of EU Directive 2004/18/EC 2

c. Declaration (as per Article 45 of Directive 2004/18/EC) 2

1. Introduction 4

1.3 Scope of Proposals 5

1.4 Query Handling 5

1.5 Tender Submission Details 6

1.6 Opening of Tenders 6

1.7 Interviews, Presentations and Demonstrations 6

1.8 Tender Responses 7

2.10 Classification of Requirement 15

3. Specification of Requirements 17

4.3 Introduction 26

4.4 Service proposal 26

Response to contract management requirements 27

5.1 General 31

THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND SIGNED BY A DULY AUTHORISED OFFICER

OF THE TENDERER’S ORGANISATION 43

APPENDICES 32

a. Conditions of Tender

b. Article 45 of EU Directive 2004/18/EC

c. Declaration (as per Article 45 of Directive 2004/18/EC)

d. Schedule of Costs

e. Freedom of Information Declaration

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f. Tenderers Declaration

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1. Introduction

1.1 Procurement requirements

1.1.1 This document and accompanying appendices and schedules constitute an Invitation to
Tender for the provision of a range of Lotus Notes based application development and
support services.

1.1.2 The contracting authority for this procurement is the Courts Service. The Information
and Communications Technology Directorate of the Courts Service is undertaking this
competition. The Courts Service is an independent Agency under the aegis of the
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

1.1.3 The tendered solution may involve the provision of services from either a single party
or a group/consortium of tenderers. Where the solution involves participation by a
group or consortium, a prime contractor within the group or consortium who will be
regarded as the tenderer, must host the bid.

1.1.4 Should that group or consortium’s bid succeed, the Courts Service will conclude a
contract with the prime contractor only, who will then take full responsibility for all
matters arising under the contract.

1.1.5 Please note that all information relating to this tender, including tender
documentation, clarifications and changes, will be published on the etenders
website (www.e-tenders.gov.ie) only. Registration is free of charge and there is no
charge for documents. The Courts Service will not accept responsibility for
information relayed (or not relayed) via third parties. If the Invitation to Tender is
in any way altered or edited the subsequent tender may be deemed inadmissible.

1.2 Context

1.2.1 Since establishment the Courts Service has operated a policy of outsourcing in
relation to the provision of IT related services. All application and infrastructure
development, deployment and support is outsourced to a variety of external service
providers with whom the Courts Service has concluded contractual relationships.

1.2.2 In 2004, following an EU procurement, the Courts Service entered into a 3 year
contract with System Dynamics for the provision of a range of Lotus Notes related
application development and support services.

1.2.3 Any new contract awarded as a result of this procurement will replace the current
contract with System Dynamics.

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1.3 Scope of Proposals

1.3.1 Tenderers are required to bid for the entire proposal specified in this document.
Tenders addressing part of the requirement will not be considered.

1.3.2 Whilst every effort has been made to adequately describe the requirements
arising from this procurement, it is for tenderers to gauge the extent of the work effort
and resources needed to meet the requirements.

1.3.3 Tenderers may submit more than one proposal if they wish. However, any
second or subsequent proposal must be prepared and presented under separate cover.
Tenderers should specifically note that multiple responses contained within the same
document will be rejected.

1.3.4 Whereas this Invitation to Tender is issued in good faith, no legitimate

expectation shall arise therefrom and the Courts Service shall not be obliged to award a
contract or proceed to further stages in the procurement process.

1.4 Query Handling

1.4.1 Any requests for clarification in relation to this document and any of the
requirements specified therein must be addressed in writing by letter, facsimile or e-
mail to:

Mr. Eamonn Mooney

Information and Communications Technology Directorate
Courts Service
Phoenix Street North
Smithfield
IE-Dublin 7

Telephone + 353-1-8886831
Fax + 353-1-8886729
e-mail notesitt@courts.ie

1.4.2 Mr Mooney must receive all requests for clarification in relation to this
document in writing by letter, facsimile or e-mail prior to 12.00 noon (local time) on
30 November 2007. Requests received after this date will not be responded to.

1.4.3 Prospective tenderers, in requesting the tender documentation directly from Mr.
Mooney must provide an email address to which all responses to clarifications will be
issued. Where the tender documents are downloaded from the procurement portal
www.e-tenders.gov.ie, responses to clarifications will be issued to the email address
provided on registration with the portal.

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 1.4.4 Prospective tenderers should specifically note that where a request for
clarification is received, the details of the request and any responses thereto will be
provided to all tenderers who request the tender document. The prospective tenderer
who raises the request for clarification will not however be identified in clarification
responses issued.

1.5 Tender Submission Details

1.5.1 Four (4) copies of the tender and an additional electronic copy preferably on a
CD- ROM and in Microsoft Word or equivalent format, in a sealed envelope marked
“Tender for Lotus Notes and Website support and development services” and
addressed to:

Mr. Eamonn Mooney

Information and Communications Technology Directorate
Courts Service
Phoenix Street North
Smithfield
IE-Dublin 7

Telephone + 353-1-8886831
Fax + 353-1-8886729

must be delivered to reach the above address no later than 12 noon (local time) on
20 December 2007. Tenders received after that time will not be considered and will be
returned unopened.
1.5.2 It is the responsibility of the Tenderer to ensure the tender is delivered before the
time and date specified and to make their own arrangements to obtain proof of delivery
by, for example, obtaining a receipt.

1.6 Opening of Tenders

1.6.1 Tenders will be opened in the Information and Communications Technology

Directorate of the Courts Service, Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7, in the
presence of nominated officials of the Courts Service with an independent observer not
connected with the procurement at 14:00 (local time) on 20 December 2007.

1.7 Interviews, Presentations and Demonstrations

1.7.1 The Courts Service at its sole discretion may require tenderers to make a
presentation or show, through demonstration or site visit, their proposed solution.

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 1.7.2 Additionally, at its sole discretion, the Courts Service may wish to interview the
key personnel proposed by the tenderer for the project. Accordingly, respondents must
be in a position to make such personnel available for interview at reasonable notice, if
so requested. It is intended that any such interviews will be held at a Courts Service
premises in Dublin.

1.7.3 Respondents will be required to bear their own costs in respect of any such
interviews, presentations or demonstrations.

1.8 Tender Responses

1.8.1 The attention of tenderers is directed to Section 4 of this Invitation to Tender,

which specifies the format for replies. In addition, tenderers should note the following
points in relation to the tender response.

• Sections and subsections asking for information from suppliers should be answered
in full.

• Tenderers should give their financial proposals as a Schedule of Costs following the
format specified in Section 4.9 of this document.

• Tenders, including documentation, must be in English or Irish. Similarly all

tendered documentation must be in either the English or Irish language format.

• All prices must be quoted in Euros.

• The pages of the tender must be numbered and responded to as directed in Section
4.

1.8.2 Failure to comply with these requirements may result in rejection of the tender.

1.9 Security Clearance

1.9.1 Any person carrying out work on the premises of the Courts Service will be
required to undergo a security check by the Garda authorities. The successful tenderer
will be required to supply as a minimum the name, address and date of birth of all
personnel assigned to the project as soon as the contract is awarded. Additional
information may also be requested in this regard. The successful tenderer will also be
required to submit similar details in relation to additional personnel or changes in
personnel occurring during the contract period. Tenderers must confirm that they have
no objection to any security checks deemed necessary by the Courts Service.

1.10 Computer usage policy

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1.10.1 The Courts Service has a computer usage policy in place which outlines the
policy, rules and procedures that apply to the use of Courts Service IT facilities.
Personnel of the successful service provider selected as a result of this procurement
engaged in the delivery of the services sought by this procurement will be required to
confirm acceptance of the terms of the computer usage policy document.

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 2. Background

2.1 The Courts Service

2.1.1 The Courts Service was officially established in November 1999 pursuant to the
provisions of the Court Service Act, 1998

2.1.2 The statutory obligations of the Courts Service are defined as follows:

• to manage the Courts

• to provide support services for the Judges
• to provide information on the Courts system to the public
• to provide, manage and maintain Court buildings
• to provide facilities for users of the Courts

2.1.3 The primary objectives of the Courts Service are as follows:

• to provide access to justice which is equitable, efficient and cost effective

• to provide qualitative, efficient and cost effective processing of the business of the
Courts
• to provide services which are founded upon a strong customer service ethos

2.1.4 The headquarters of the Courts Service are located at Phoenix Street North, Smithfield,
Dublin 7. The Service has a network of administrative offices located in the greater
Dublin area and nationwide with approximately 1100 employees. In addition the
Courts Service provides support services for the Judiciary which comprises 145
members. Further information about the Service can be found on our website at
www.courts.ie.

2.1.5 The Courts Service management structure is headed by a Chief Executive Officer,
supported by seven Directors. The Service is divided into seven Directorates as follows;

• Circuit & District Court Operations

• Supreme & High Court Operations
• Corporate Services
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Information & Communications Technology
• Reform & Development

2.1.6 The Courts Service has, since its establishment as an independent agency in 1999,
assumed full operational and management responsibility for the administration of the
Courts

2.2 Information Technology

2.2.1 The development of Information Systems within the Courts Service is directed by the
IT Governing Committee. This Committee is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer.

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2.2.2 The implementation of Information Systems is carried out by the ICT Directorate
located in Phoenix House and supplier project teams. The ICT Directorate assumes
overall management responsibility for the development and procurement of new
systems, support for existing systems (currently managing externally contracted
resources) and the procurement and maintenance of the Service’s IT assets. It is the
policy of the Courts Service that such services are delivered to the maximum extent
possible by externally contracted IT support services and service providers

2.2.3 The Courts Service published its second 5 year ICT Strategy in
February 2006. A copy of the Plan may be viewed on the Courts Service Website
www.courts.ie.

2.2.4 The Courts Service has implemented a modern information and communications
infrastructure based on the following key technologies:

• Windows Server 2000/2003 as the standard network operating system, with Windows
Server 2003 deployed on all recent server installations.
• Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 as the standard client operating system with
Windows 2000 Professional deployed on many older laptops. Laptop computers have
been provided to all Judges and to key management personnel.
• Lotus Notes as the organisation’s standard document management and email facility
• Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition as the organisation’s standard office
productivity toolset
• Citrix provides standard network connectivity at small local offices nationwide with a
user population of less than 10 users, and is used to publish enterprise Oracle based
applications including the Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS) and the Courts
Accounting System (CAS).
• Government Networks Eircom MPLS Business IP+ network is used to provide wide
area network connectivity for the Courts Service to approximately 50 local offices
nationwide.
• Oracle as its standard Relational Database Management System. (running under SUN
Solaris 5.8)

2.2.5 The standard Courts Service client software suite consists of the following depending
on specific user profile:-

o Microsoft office XP Standard Edition service pack 3

o Lotus Notes version 5.0.8 (currently being upgraded to version 7.0.1 as part of an
ongoing future proofing programme).
o Citrix ICA Client 6.30
o Internet Explorer 6
o Adobe Acrobat Reader 6
o Symantec Antivirus 10

2.2.6 In certain instances non standard client software is also deployed to facilitate the
availability of non standard legacy applications which will be phased out over time, or
to deliver specific functionality to certain business users.

2.3 Lotus Notes Platform

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2.3.1 Since establishment the Courts Service has made a significant investment in Lotus
Notes technology and Lotus Notes continues to be the organisation’s standard document
management and e-mail facility. Lotus Notes is currently deployed in a single Notes
domain model on all 39 Domino servers and approximately 1,550 desktops (including
laptops). The Courts Service has at any point in time up to 1350 Lotus Notes users. The
higher number of desktops compared to users arises from some users having both a
desktop PC and a laptop, and from the presence of additional desktops in courtrooms,
public counters, training facilities etc. The Courts Lotus Notes systems can also be
accessed by staff with PDAs. The Courts Service is in the process of migrating to
Version 7 of Lotus Notes/Domino.

2.3.2 Lotus Notes provides the underlying technical platform for a number of key
developments within the Courts Service which have been implemented over the past 5-6
years as described in section 2.4.2 below.

2.4 Interim Systems

2.4.1 The evolution of a case management system to address the primary operational
requirements of the Courts Service is a key element in the current ICT strategy. This
new system will incorporate the use of appropriate new technologies such as document
management, electronic payments and electronic filing and will be developed using
industry standard components. The initial emphasis will be on the development and
implementation of a new civil case management system for the management of civil
business across all court jurisdictions.

2.4.2 Pending the development of the case management system referred to above the Courts
Service has developed a number of interim systems in Lotus Notes Version 5.0.4 up to
and including Lotus Notes Version 5.0.8 to meet specific business requirements in a
number of Court offices. The following is a summary of the major interim applications
developed in Lotus Notes and deployed throughout the estate.

System No. of No of Change Support

Documents Locations requests 2 Calls3
Circuit Court Civil (Dublin and 741,000 26 standalone 19 52
regional) and data
dictionaries 1
Circuit Court Family Law 89,000 26 standalone 8 10
Circuit Criminal Court 175,000 1 16 28
Supreme Court 34,000 1 14 6
Court of Criminal Appeal 40,300 1 10 2
Central Criminal Court 6,200 1 0 2
District Court Civil 26,000 2 standalone 1 0
Probate Office 475,000 4 15 replicas 3 38
Wards of Court 130,000 1 5 6
Examiner’s Office 46,000 5 1 plus 1 data 3 2
dictionary
Official Assignees 8,500 1 0 0
General Solicitor’s 4,800 1 16 2
Taxing Masters 22,000 1 2 2

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 1
Each of the Circuit Court Civil databases also has an associated Data Dictionary
which maintains lists such as Judges Names, Solicitors and most commonly used
plaintiffs. Each office records cases on a standalone version of the database for their
jurisdiction.
2
Change requests from January 2006 – October 2007. In total there have been 112
change requests in relation to Lotus Notes databases in that period (including smaller
databases not listed above).
3
Support calls from January 2006 – October 2007. In total there have been 164 support
calls logged in relation to Lotus Notes databases in that period (including smaller
databases and document libraries not listed above).
4
The Probate database archives older documents each year to a separate Probate
Archive database. This database currently contains over 67,000 documents. Each
Probate Office uses a replica of the same database and has access to all the
information entered countrywide.
5
The Examiner’s Office system incorporates 8 smaller databases and also includes a
Data Dictionary to manage information.

2.4.3 The above applications are centralised workflow application systems designed to track
and monitor the progress of cases through their lifecycle within the Courts and generate
standard court documentation. Standard Notes parent/response document hierarchy and
view navigation features have been used. Functionality provided includes recording
case information, generating court lists, resulting cases and generation of documents,
such as letters and court orders. Typically the type of information found on these
systems includes court dates, case types and status, hearing types, case officers,
registrars, judges, court-rooms, parties involved (names & addresses), court orders and
outcomes/results. Information regarding trials, trial witnesses, number of days a trial
takes and sentencing information is also recorded. In addition, several applications
provide statistical information which is generated through a tied-in Crystal Enterprise
project. All of these databases also have an associated designer template version.

2.4.4 There are many document libraries in various court offices most of which are based on
a standard Courts Service template each of which could have 2,000 - 3,000 documents.
There are also diary systems and smaller databases such as the sick leave databases
maintained by HR in the regional offices. Electronic registers of Personal Injury cases
are maintained which combine data extracted from other databases with newer data
input directly. Other Lotus Notes applications include: Notice Board, Shared
Calendaring Systems for Circuit and Supreme Court offices, an order requests tracking
system for ICT, the Irish Sentencing Information System for the Circuit Court (ISIS)
and a register for reserved judgments.

2.4.5 Additionally there is a browser based Courts Links page which provides users with
shortcuts to commonly used applications which are accessible through their workspace
browser e.g. Phone & Email Directory, Payslips system, Funds Accounting System
(FAS) and Mail Manager

2.4.6 The successful tenderer will assume responsibility for the support and further
development of the Lotus Notes applications pursuant to the services which will be
provided arising from this procurement.

2.4.7 All but three of the applications identified at section 2.4.2 are deployed centrally on one
Domino application server located at the organisations central Dublin site. The Probate

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 system, the Circuit Court Civil applications and the Circuit Court Family Law
applications are deployed using replica copies of the database or template on local
servers in regional offices. As each office is dependent on these Notes database
applications, it is critical that they are robust and scalable enough to cope with any
potential increase in use. The applications generally enjoy a high level of user
satisfaction.

2.4.8 Support for these applications is currently provided by a Lotus Notes team comprising
internal Court Service resources and contracted external resources (System Dynamics)
providing standard application support in terms of fault analysis and resolution, bug
fixing and general application maintenance and support. In addition these resources
provide an application enhancement and development service. Lotus Notes
administration and network support of the technical infrastructure within the Courts
Service is currently provided as part of an externally contracted managed support
service provided by Fujitsu Services Ltd. All Lotus Notes issues are logged with a
centralised IT Helpdesk provided as part of the managed service and any Lotus Notes
application related problems are passed on to the Lotus Notes team. Tenderers should
note that in any contract awarded as a result of this procurement that internal Courts
Service staff will not be involved in day to day maintenance and support activities
or in the delivery of application development services. Courts Service involvement in
any contract arising from this procurement will be at the contract management level and
will include the management and direction of resources supplied by the successful
service provider.

2.4.9 The Courts Service operates a rigorous change control policy to

manage change to its ICT environment. All change without exception is subject to the
change control policy including changes to the Notes infrastructure and Notes
applications. An online change request system which is available to all staff is used for
the submission, approval and management of change requests. The successful tenderer
selected as a result of this procurement will be expected to comply with the Courts
Service change control policy.

2.4.10 Following impacting, changes and enhancements are made on template versions of the
main databases, with extensive testing required before deployment to the live
environment.

2.5 Courts Service Website: (www.courts.ie)

2.5.1 The Courts Service website is implemented on Lotus Domino R5.0.12 web server
technology. The website comprises 5 Lotus Domino databases, linked together by
means of a central database which determines the website's navigation system and the
Graphical User Interface (GUI) design or "look & feel".

2.5.2 The network topology supporting the website incorporates a number of Lotus Domino
servers, extending from the Courts Service pre-production Domino server through to the
production Domino server(s) in the Local Government Computer Services Board
(LGCSB) located in Conyngham Road, Dublin 8, who are the Courts Service’s website
hosting partner. The website's databases exist on each of these servers. Scheduled
replication is via Government Networks.

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2.5.3 Content is managed in each of the website's databases via web browser and Lotus Notes
Client interfaces. Content management interaction is restricted to the pre-production
server. Access to the content management interface is governed by Lotus Domino
security layers, which restricts access to specified users and/or user groups. The Courts
Service currently operates an IntraDynamics Content Management Tool (CMT) and
holds a license for this product. Having invested in the CMT the Courts Service
considers it desirable that it be used as part of the service offering. The Courts Service
will, however, consider as part of this procurement a proposal for an alternative content
management tool which prospective tenderers, having regard to their experience and
expertise, feel would best meet the requirements of the Courts Service in this instance.

2.5.4 Site data is transferred from the pre-production server to the production server(s) via
Lotus Notes Domino Hub servers using a secure Lotus Notes replication process on a
defined scheduled basis. Content implemented on the pre-production server will, after a
defined period, automatically appear on the production server(s) where it can be
accessed by users of the Internet.

2.5.5 The Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) supports the hardware and
software on the clustered Domino/Microsoft servers belonging to the Courts Service
which are hosted on their premises.

2.6 Supreme Court Website

2.6.1 The Supreme Court Website is at an advanced stage of development and is expected to
go live in the near future.

2.6.2 The Supreme Court website comprises 2 Lotus Domino databases currently hosted on a
Domino 5.0.12 environment. The Supreme Court database contains all site content,
configuration parameters and the content management tool. The Judgments database
resides on www.courts.ie, and is also presented within the Supreme Court website’s
navigational interface.

2.6.3 The site is hosted on the same production servers in LGCSB as the Courts Service
website. The transfer process from pre-production to production server is as described
in 2.5.4 above

2.6.4 Both the above mentioned websites are designed to be compliant with AA accessibility
standards when accessed via the Internet.

2.6.5 Application support for both websites will be required for future fixes/bugs,
development and any other application support related work. Support calls for the
Courts Service website have been logged at between 15-20 per annum for each of the
last few years, which includes a mix of development and infrastructure calls.

2.7 Work in progress

2.7.1 The following development projects are ongoing at present. The successful tenderer will
be expected to assume full responsibility for any elements of the following on going at
the time of contract award:

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 • District Court Licensing Office system which will record details of annual licence
renewals and exemptions.
• Blanchardstown District Court case management system which is based on the system
currently in operation in the Civil Office in Dublin
• ISIS (Irish Sentencing Information System) which is a pilot project recording details
of sentences in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts.
• Circuit Court Criminal Case Management System in Cork.
• Database for Health Services Executive cases in the Family Law Courts.
.
2.8 Contract Management and Governance

2.8.1 The Courts Service will appoint a steering committee for the overall management of
any contract awarded as a result of this procurement. It is envisaged the steering
committee will meet on a quarterly basis.

2.8.2 The successful supplier will be expected to appoint a contract manager to assume full
responsibility for any matters arising under this contract. The Supplier contract manager
will be responsible for ensuring that all services are delivered in accordance with agreed
service levels.

2.8.3 The Courts Service will appoint an internal service contract manager. This individual
will be responsible for the management of the contract from a Court Service perspective
and in accordance with the agreed Service Level Agreement. The contract manager will
also act in conjunction with the successful supplier’s contract manager as relationship
manager with appointed senior users across the organisation, internal Courts ICT staff
and other external contractors. It is envisaged that the supplier contract manager and the
Courts Service contract manager will meet on a regular basis.

2.8.4 The Courts Service reserves the right to nominate personnel to work alongside the
supplier personnel in the development of new applications and in such an event the
Courts Service would anticipate that there would be significant skills transfer to Courts
personnel.

2.9 Financial Arrangements

2.9.1 Payment for services covered by this invitation to tender will be on foot of appropriate
invoices. Invoicing arrangements will be agreed with the successful service provider,
following the award of contract. A contract entered into on foot of this Invitation to
Tender is subject to the Prompt Payments of Accounts Act.

2.10 Classification of Requirement

2.10.1 Throughout section 3 paragraphs are categorised as follows:

Paragraphs marked “(M)” represent mandatory requirements in respect of the services

required, all of which must be met by Service Providers.
Paragraphs marked “(D)” represent desirable requirements which should be met by
Service Providers
Paragraphs marked “(I)” represent requirements for Service Providers to supply
information in response. Often they will follow a mandatory requirement and will be

15
evaluated jointly so that it can be clearly demonstrated, without doubt, that the
mandatory requirements can be met and how
Unmarked paragraphs supply information to Service Providers and require no response

2.10.2 In responding to mandatory and desirable requirements, Service Providers must

provide a full response explaining how the requirement will be met. A simple
confirmation that a requirement will be met is not considered to be a satisfactory
response.

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3. Specification of Requirements

3.1 General Requirements

3.1.1 The purpose of this section of the Invitation to Tender is to outline as far as possible the
requirements of the Courts Service in relation to the provision of website and Lotus
Notes application development and support services. The Courts Service is seeking to
enter into a contract for such services. The initial contract period will be for a period of
two years with an option to extend the contract, at the sole discretion of the Courts
Service, on an annual basis for a further two years.

3.1.2 Stated simply the requirement arising from this procurement is to:

 Support and maintain existing Lotus Notes applications, the Courts Service website
and the Supreme Court website.
 Provide application enhancement services in respect of the above.
 Develop and subsequently support new Lotus Notes based applications and/or web
developments where required.
 Maintain a comprehensive suite of related documentation.

3.1.3 The Courts Service expects the successful tenderer to take an interest in the Service’s
business success, to be proactive in helping the Service achieve business advantages
from the use of Lotus Domino/Notes, in the area of web development and content
management. This assistance will be essential if the Courts Service is to contribute to,
foster and deliver an excellent level of customer service to a diverse range of
stakeholders both internally and externally.

3.1.4 The successful tenderer will be expected to deliver the services sought in this
procurement at the Courts Service central Dublin site.

3.2 Application and website maintenance and support

3.2.1 (M) The successful tenderer will be required to assume full responsibility for the
maintenance and support of the following:

 Interim Systems
 Courts Service Website
 Supreme Court Website
 Content Management Tool (where tenderers propose an alternative to the tool
currently used within the Courts Service, please refer to section 2.5.3 of this
document)
 Other applications which may use Notes or related technologies such as XML and
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
 Any additional lotus notes applications or websites deployed between the date of
issue of this document and the award of contract and also during the lifetime of the
contract.

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3.2.2 (M) The successful tenderer will be required to enter into a detailed Service Level
Agreement (SLA) for the period of the contract in respect of the maintenance and
support of the above applications, websites and tools.
3.2.3 (M) Support services required in relation to the systems identified at 3.2.1 include but
are not limited to:-

• The provision of technical support to application users,

• Problem and fault diagnosis,
• Bug fixes,
• Performance monitoring,
• Tuning applications for optimal performance,
• Preventative maintenance,
• Routine maintenance and support activities,
• Setting up new/changing existing user profiles,
• Minor customisations,
• Application security,
• Generation of reports,
• Impacting proposed changes,
• Liasing with third party vendors,
• Problem avoidance advice,
• Advice and guidance on usage and maintenance of all application related
documentation.

3.2.4 (M) The application support service must include bug-fixing or other remedial or
correction work, including re-testing, regression testing and associated work, and
resolving as they arise all related configuration and printing issues which may come to
light within the application. All software bugs, configuration or other issues must be
satisfactorily resolved so that the application functions in accordance with specification.

3.2.5 (M) The successful tenderer will be responsible for maintaining the current overall
design of the Courts Service and Supreme Court websites. The design of the existing
sites, including redesigned elements, must continue to meet all of the following criteria:

• The requirements of the Courts Service;

• Support the required functionality;
• Have a graphical layout which is visually to the highest standards;
• Cater for users with impaired vision (in terms of text colour and contrast with
background);
• Be easy to navigate for both new and expert users and cater for those who rely on
adaptive technologies; in this context the site must be put through the 'Bobby' test.
• Allow for future development and enhancement to the extent that additional features
can be added, if required, with minimal disruption to ongoing service provision;
• An Irish language version of each site must be maintained. A certain amount of the
websites have been translated into Irish already and this should be kept consistent
with the English version. Tenderers should note that translation of content is a
matter for the Courts Service to arrange with its contracted service provider and does
not form part of this procurement.

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3.2.6 (I) Tenderers must indicate the content management tool they are proposing as part of
their solution. The content management tool will primarily be used by designated users
of the Courts Service to manage web site content. Where tenderers propose a tool other
than that currently used by the Courts Service (please refer to section 2.5.3) the full
costs associated with the installation and use of the tool must be disclosed in the
schedule of costs. Where tenderers propose retaining the existing tool the Courts
Service will meet the annual licence cost relating to this tool, tenderers will however be
expected to assist and co-operate fully with the supplier of the tool to obtain a resolution
to any problems that arise with it.

3.2.7 (I) The successful tenderer must provide a single point of contact to which all support
calls will be reported. Courts Service personnel must be in a position to immediately
report problems between at least the hours of 9:30 am and 5:30 pm Monday to Friday
(excluding public holidays). Additionally Courts Service personnel must have a facility
to report problems outside of these hours when required. Tenderers in responding to this
paragraph must also include the following information:

 Procedures proposed for handling calls and resolving problems.

 Escalation procedures.
 Details of any system that will be used to monitor, track and escalate faults and
problems.

19
3.2.8 (M) The following table sets out the service levels which will be required in respect of
the application and website support services. Tenderers are free to offer improved
service levels, if they wish. The Courts Service will agree a final definition of the
various severity levels with the successful tenderer during discussions on the
formalisation of a Service Level Agreement.

Severity Impact Initial Response Target for Target for

Level identifying cause resolving
of problem and problem or
agreeing/ implementing
commencing acceptable
remedial action temporary
workaround.

1 System unavailable to all Within 1 Within 2 Within 4 hours,

users working hour, working hours, measured from
measured from measured from identification of
OR time of reporting time of reporting the problem
(Desirable) (Desirable) (Desirable)
System unavailable to a
member of the Judiciary Not greater than Not greater than Not greater than
or Senior Management 2 working hours, 4 working hours, 8 hours,
measured from measured from measured from
time of reporting time of reporting identification of
(Mandatory) (Mandatory) the problem
(Mandatory)

2 Major system function Within 2 Not greater than Within 24 hours,

unavailable or total working hours, 6 working hours, measured from
system unavailable to measured from measured from identification of
10% or less users reporting time of reporting problem.
(Desirable) (Mandatory)

Not greater than

4 working hours,
measured from
time of reporting
(Mandatory)

3 Minor problems of a Within 2 n/a Within 7

cosmetic or similar nature working days, calendar days,
measured from measured from
reporting reporting of
(Mandatory) problem.

The Courts Service expects, in respect of incidents carrying a Level 1 severity

classification which have been reported and remedial action initiated but not completed
during normal working hours, that the support engineer will use their best endeavours to
ensure system availability by 9:00 am the next business day.

20
3.2.9 (I) Tenderers must provide details on the proposed arrangements they would put in
place for unscheduled, out of hours support in exceptional circumstances. Details of the
costs for this exceptional service should be included in the Schedule of Costs (Section
4.8)

3.2.10 (I) Resolution of some support issues may require the successful tenderer to work
closely with technical support staff from particular software manufacturers.
Accordingly, tenderers must specifically outline their support relationship (if any) with
both IBM (in respect of Notes/Domino) and Microsoft Corporation, in response to this
paragraph.

3.2.11 (M) All Notes related problems will initially be screened by technical personnel from
the managed service provider and where the issue is not infrastructure related will be
passed to the successful tenderer selected as a result of this procurement, for resolution.
Tenderers must specifically confirm that they will co-operate fully with the managed
service provider in relation to the investigation and resolution of any Notes or website
related issue.

3.2.12 (M) The supplier contract manager will be required to attend meetings requested by the
Courts Service and submit monthly status reports to include performance against SLA,
outstanding incidents and such other reports as may be requested.

3.2.13 (I) Tenderers must describe in detail how they propose to provide the services sought in
sections 3.2.1 to 3.2.12 and describe the merits of their particular approach in meeting
or exceeding Courts Service requirements. All costs associated with the provision of the
services must be fully disclosed in the schedule of costs.

3.3 Draw down services for application enhancement and development.

3.3.1 (M) In addition to the maintenance and support services the successful tenderer will be
responsible for carrying out various functional enhancements to the Lotus Notes
applications and the development of new applications/facilities to meet evolving
business requirements and furthering the strategic objectives of the Courts Service. The
selected service provider will be required to provide on a draw down basis such
additional personnel as are required to provide such services

3.3.2 (M) At this stage, it is anticipated that additional enhancements may be required to (but
may not be limited to) the following existing applications:

• Courts Service Website

• Supreme Court Website
• Interim systems for example the web enabling of Notes applications.
• Other existing Lotus Notes solutions and document libraries.

3.3.3 (M) Services required may also extend to the redesign of the Courts Service and
Supreme Court websites. The design of the existing sites including redesigned elements
must meet the criteria set out at section 3.2.5 of this document.

3.3.4 (M) It is likely that the Courts Service will require the development and deployment of
a number of new applications and possibly websites to meet specific business

21
 requirements. The additional services required will be delivered in the context of a
complete project lifecycle encompassing the following services:

• Formal Project Initiation Document preparation and review

• Systems and business analysis
• Application design
• Application development
• Application testing deployment and implementation
• Application documentation (including technical documentation)
• Project management techniques and processes

3.3.5 (I) Tenderers must provide details of the overall approach they would propose to adopt
to the analysis, design, development and implementation of enhancements or new
applications in accordance with the requirements outlined above. Details must be
provided of the proposed methodologies, including Project Management, and
techniques to be adopted to deliver the requested services.

3.3.6 (I) The proposal must outline the quality assurance procedures in place within the
tendering organisation, including but not limited to the areas of development, documentation
and testing, which will ensure the provision of a high quality service to the Courts Service.
Details of any quality management accreditation or certification should be provided.

3.3.7 (M) As part of the draw down for enhancement and development, tenderers will be
expected to provide additional services including but not limited to:-

• Full project lifecycle implementation

• Extensive documentation including release notes
• New code changes and amendments

3.3.8 (M) Following the implementation of new applications or enhancements to existing

applications the successful tenderer will provide support for such new applications
and/or enhancements as part of its application maintenance and support service as set
out in section 3.2 of this document.

3.3.9 (M) The Courts Service, without commitment, envisages that the application
enhancement and development services required arising from this procurement would
extend to up to 150 days per annum but could be greater or less depending on
circumstances.

3.3.10 (M) The Courts Service will have copyright ownership of any databases and graphics
used on the website.

3.4 Transition services:

3.4.1 (I) Tenderers must describe the arrangements they would put in place to provide for an
efficient and seamless transfer of responsibility for the support and development
services from the incumbent service provider. The Courts Service considers it desirable
that such transfer take place within 3 weeks of contract award. For the purpose of
responding to this section tenderers should assume that in addition to application and

22
 website support services, those projects identified at Section 2.7 will be on going at time
of contract award and will fall within the scope of the required transition services.

3.5 General

3.5.1 The performance of the contractor will be monitored by the Courts Service on an
ongoing basis and regular review meetings will be held between the parties at the
Courts Services Offices located at Phoenix House, 15-24 Phoenix Street North,
Smithfield, Dublin 7.

3.5.2 (M) The contractor will provide service performance reports to the Courts Service each
month and for any other reasonable period, as may be requested by the Courts Service
from time to time.

3.6 Application support and application development teams

3.6.1 (M) Tenderers must provide a support and development team which possesses the
necessary resources, levels of skill, expertise and experience required to successfully
deliver the services sought in this Invitation to Tender to the highest standards.

3.6.2 (I) The tenderer must nominate the primary resources for service areas in their response
and the successful contractor will, in the ordinary course, be expected to keep these
resources in place throughout the contract.

3.6.3 (I) Tenderers must nominate secondary resources which will be sufficient to ensure that
in the event of any member of the primary resource team being unavailable for
whatever reason, the tenderer can continue to provide a high quality service to the
Courts Service.

3.6.4 (M) The Courts Service places considerable value on the benefits accruing from a
dedicated team who are familiar with issues arising and who have the necessary
knowledge and skills to resolve such issues. Tenderers must indicate the procedures
they will put in place to control changes in the membership of the support team during
the duration of the contract. The Courts Service expects that any replacement personnel
will be of a similar or greater skill level to that of the original team member. The Courts
Service must be consulted in the event that the successful supplier wishes to change key
personnel during the assignment. Any change of key personnel will be treated as a
formal change control issue.

3.6.5 (M) The Courts Service expects that proposed personnel must, at a minimum, have
undergone certified training in web application development (HTML/XML/Java) and
Lotus Notes/ Domino application development, LotusScript and system administration.
They must also have at least two years actual work experience on similar type projects
to that envisaged in this procurement working in these areas.

3.6.6 (M) The Courts Service considers that to provide the range of services sought in this
Invitation to Tender the following key skill sets will be required:

 Business analysis
 Systems analysis

23
  Lotus Domino Design & Development R5 and ND7 and greater
 Lotus Domino Systems Administration R5 and greater
 Web Design & Development
 Project Management

3.6.7 (M) The successful tenderer will be expected to adhere to standards and best practice in
software development and ensure high quality deliverables.

3.6.8 (I) Tenderers must provide a per man day cost for each of the above skill sets in the
Schedule of Costs outlined in Appendix D of this document.

3.7 Additional Services

3.7.1 (D) In addition to the services requested earlier the Courts Service requires an option,
exercisable at its sole discretion, for a drawdown facility whereby the Service may avail
of additional and related technical, application or web services over the period of the
contract. It is not possible at this time to be specific in relation to the additional services
that may be required but it is envisaged that such services would include the provision
of advice on Notes and web related technologies and initiatives and relate to
maximising and exploiting the use of Notes/ Domino and web technologies, including
new releases and features, within the Courts Service to deliver business benefit and
higher level of customer services. The cost of such optional services must be fully
disclosed in the schedule of costs on the basis of a fixed rate per day.

24
4 Function and format of the full proposal

4.1 Format

4.1.1 The Courts Service requires that prospective suppliers respond to this Invitation to
Tender by submitting a full proposal structured according to the following format:

• management summary;

• introduction;

• services proposal;

• response to contract management requirements;

• economic and financial capacity;

• technical and professional ability.

4.1.2 A brief description of each of the above sections is described below. This is not an
exhaustive description and tenderers are free to include any additional information in
support of their proposal which they may deem relevant. However, the requirement to
respond in accordance with the above structure and to include the following is
mandatory.

4.2 Management summary

4.2.1 This section should be not more than 2 pages providing:

• A brief summary of the tenderer or where a consortium is involved a brief summary

of the consortium;

• A brief summary of the proposed solution.

• A brief summary of previous and relevant experience.

• A brief summary in bullet point format of the principal features and advantages to
the Courts Service of the solution proposed in terms particularly of cost
effectiveness and value for money; and

• A summary of the costs proposed.

4.2.2 Tenderers will have the opportunity and will be expected to elaborate on each item in
the management summary when responding to the following sections.

25
4.3 Introduction

4.3.1 In response to this section the tenderer should provide the following
information:

a. Name, address, telephone and fax number of the tenderer. Name of the person within
the tender organisation dealing with the response;

b. Name, address, telephone and fax number of any third parties involved in the tender.
Name of the person within any third party organisation dealing with the matter;

c. Identification of prime contractor/party who will carry overall responsibility for the
project;

d. Name of person within the prime contractor who will assume final and overall
responsibility; and

e. Where the proposed solution involves a group or consortium, the role of each member
of the group or consortium in providing the solution should be clearly outlined

f. Confirmation of acceptance by the tenderer and any third parties of the general
conditions of tender described in Appendix A of this Invitation to Tender.

g. A statement from the tenderer that none of the excluding circumstances listed in
paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 45 of EU Directive 2004/18/EC (coordinating procedures
for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service
contracts) applies to them. The said circumstances are outlined in Appendix A. The
declaration at Appendix C must also be completed, signed and returned as part of the
tender response.

4.4 Service proposal

4.4.1 Leading on from the introduction, the tenderer should present a detailed
proposal to address the requirements outlined in this Invitation to Tender. In response to
this section it is a matter for tenderers to fully describe the solution they propose. In
response to this section tenderers should take care to ensure that:

• Sections and subsections of Section 3 are clearly dealt with in their responses. The
specific section being responded to should be clearly referenced. Tenderers should
ensure that sections are dealt with sequentially in the order in which they appear in this
document.

• The specific features and advantages of their solution are fully supported.

26
Response to contract management requirements

4.5.1 In response to this section, the tenderer should describe as a minimum the arrangements
which will be put in place for the management of any contract with the Courts Service
with specific reference to roles and responsibilities.

4.6 Economic and Financial capacity

4.6.1 Candidates must provide the following information relating to their financial and
economic standing:
1. Either an appropriate statement from the tenderers bank or alternatively, evidence
of relevant risk indemnity insurance
2. The presentation of balance sheets or extracts from the balance sheets where
publication of the balance sheet is required under the law of the country in which
the tenderer is established
3. A statement of the tenderers -
(i) overall turnover and
(ii) its turnover in respect of the specific services which would be relevant to this
contract
- for each of the previous three financial years.
4.6.2 As provided for in Article 47(2) of Directive 2004/18/EC if, for any valid reason, the
economic operator is unable to provide the references requested at 4.6.1 above, they
may prove their economic and financial standing by production of any other document
which the Courts Service considers appropriate.
4.6.3 The Courts Service requires that each of the references referred to at 4.6.1 above must
be provided unless for any valid reason they are unable to do so.
4.6.4 The Courts Service requires tenderers to meet the following minimum capacity levels in
respect of economic and financial capacity:
a. Candidates must demonstrate that they have professional indemnity insurance in
place
b. Candidates must demonstrate a turnover of at least 500,000 euro per annum over the
previous three financial years.

4.7 Technical and Professional ability

4.7.1 Tenderers must provide the following information to demonstrate their technical and
professional ability

• A list of the principal deliveries effected or the main services provided in the past three
years which would be comparable with the support and services required arising from
this procurement with the sums, dates and recipients, whether public or private,
involved. A short description of the main services in each instance must be provided. A
contact name, telephone number and e-mail address should also be provided.

27
 • A statement of the number of employees per annum of the service provider and the
number of managerial staff for the past three years. Information should include a
breakdown between management, administration and technical expertise personnel
available to the tenderer which would be directly related to the services requested in this
document.

• The educational and professional qualifications of the service provider or those of the
managerial staff and, in particular, those of the person or persons responsible for
providing the services or managing the work. In this regard Curriculum Vitae must be
provided for key management personnel who will be assigned to manage any contract
arising together with Curriculum Vitae for the key primary and secondary technical
personnel who will be involved in the project. The Curriculum Vitae must specifically
outline their qualifications, skills and experience in the competencies which would be
appropriate to the successful delivery of the services sought in this Invitation to Tender.
The following table should be populated with, as a minimum, examples of 2 previous
projects where the said personnel have provided key services.

Name Service area proposed Relevant Previous relevant

and position in qualifications experience with site
tendering name and contact
organisation*

*the tenderer should specify whether the proposed individual is a contractor or

employee.

• A statement of the tools, plant or technical equipment available to the service provider
for carrying out the services requested in this document.

• A description of the technical facilities and measures used by the service provider for
ensuring quality. In this regard, reference may be made to quality assurance systems
based on the relevant European standards series.

4.7.2 The Courts Service requires tenders to meet the following minimum capacity levels in
respect of technical and professional ability:-

• Service providers must demonstrate that they, within the last 3 years have
successfully completed the provision of a range of services generally
comparable to the requested services, utilising personnel with appropriate
qualifications and utilising tools, plant, technical equipment or technical
facilities and measures comparable to those proposed in response to all of
Section 4.7.1 above.

4.7.3 Where a consortium arrangement is proposed all of the information requested in

section 4.6 must be provided in respect of all members of the consortium. Information
provided in response to section 4.6 relating to consortium members other than the prime
contractor must be clearly identified as such.

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4.8 Schedule of Costs

4.8.1 The Courts Service requires a fixed price contract for all application and website
maintenance and support services required and as outlined in this Invitation to
Tender. The fixed price in relation to draw down services for application
enhancement and development services must be on the basis of a fixed day rate for
the skill sets proposed.

4.8.2 The Schedule of costs must provide full details in respect of all costs, which will be
incurred for the services and facilities offered and must follow the format set out in the
tables in Appendix D.

4.8.3 The content of each Table may be adapted to reflect the particular manner in which
costs would be incurred e.g. additional rows may be added to itemise individual services.

4.8.4 Similarly, rows that are not relevant should be marked as either not applicable or
already included with a reference included. However, every table must be responded to and
a total cost must be provided for all the services included in each Table.

4.8.5 All costs must be quoted in € (Euro).

4.8.6 The applicable rate of VAT and any other duties or taxes, which would be incurred
must be itemised. Where different rates of VAT or other taxes apply to different services,
these should be clearly indicated.

4.8.7 Tenderers should note that it is the responsibility of the tendering organisation to
ensure that all and any costs associated with the services they propose arising from this
procurement are included in the Schedule of Costs. Tenderers should specifically note that
any costs not included in the Schedule of Costs will be deemed to have been waived.

4.8.8 The Courts Service will not be responsible for any errors in the calculation of the
costs provided in the Invitation to Tender. It is the responsibility of tenderers to ensure that
the costs quoted are correct and calculated properly.

4.9 Presentation of Charges

4.9.1 Table 1 in Appendix D should be populated with the annual fixed charge for the
provision of the application and website maintenance and support services as
outlined in sections 3.2.1 to 3.2.12 of this document.

4.9.2 Sections 2.5.3 and 3.2.6 deal with the content management tool. Table 2 in
Appendix D should be populated with the costs associated with the provision and
support of the content management tool. Where tenderers propose retaining the
current content management tool a note to this effect should be inserted in the table.

4.9.3 Table 3 in Appendix D should be populated with the fixed rate per day for the
identified resources/skill sets.

4.9.4 The requirements in relation to transition services are detailed in section 3.4.1 of this
Invitation to Tender. Table 4 in Appendix D should be populated with the fixed cost
associated with the provision of any transition services considered necessary.

29
4.9.5 Table 5 in Appendix D should be populated with the fixed rate per day in respect of
the additional optional services referred to at section 3.7.1 of this document.

4.9.6 Tenderers must indicate the cost associated with providing a callout service for
unscheduled out of hours work in exceptional circumstances.

4.9.7 Tenderers must also indicate the approach they would propose to adopt in the
calculation of equivalent charges should the contract be extended for a further 2
years on an annual basis. The response must give the Courts Service a degree of
certainty in relation to costs for Year 3 and Year 4.

30
5 Examination and Evaluation of Tenders

5.1 General

5.1.1 During the evaluation period, clarifications may be sought from tenderers.
Tenderers will be required to provide such clarification in writing. Responses to
requests for clarification may not materially change elements of the tenders submitted.
No unsolicited communications from tenderers will be entertained during the evaluation
period. A number of the most competitive tenderers may be invited to make
presentations on their proposals for the purpose of elaboration, clarification and / or
aiding mutual understanding. Invited tenderers must be in a position to make such a
presentation at reasonable notice. Any proposed subcontractors may be required to
participate in the presentation. The Courts Service does not commit itself to accept the
lowest or any of the tenders submitted

5.2 Qualification Criteria

5.2.1 Tenderers to whom any of the circumstances listed in Article 45 of EU

Council Directive 2004/18/EC apply will be excluded from this competition. See
Appendix B.

5.2.2 A full copy of EU Council Directive 2004/18/EC is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!
CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=32004L0018&model=guichett

5.2.3 A statement on compliance with the above Directive from the main tenderer and any
sub-contractors and/or consortium members must be provided with the tender. A copy
of the required Declaration is attached at Appendix C to this document and must be
returned fully completed with response documents. Further proof of compliance may
be sought prior to contract.

5.2.4 Tenderers not so excluded will then be initially evaluated by reference to the following
criteria:-

• Completeness of proposal i.e. the proposal must address all of the requirements,
include all information requested and comply with the format of responses
requested in this Invitation to Tender document and where relevant its appendices.

• Financial stability by reference to responses provided to Section 4.6.1 above.

31
5.3 Award Criteria

5.3.1 The successful tenderer will be selected from the qualifying tenders on the basis of the
most economically advantageous tender applying the following award criteria, listed in
order of priority:

 Technical merit and acceptability of proposed solution (350 Marks)

Under this heading tenderers will be evaluated under the following criteria:

o Approach to the delivery of the application and website maintenance and

support services.

o Approach to the delivery of application and website enhancement and

development services.

o Approach to the delivery of transition services.

 Cost of the support and development services calculated over a 2 year period
(320 marks)

Tenders shall be assessed on the basis of lifetime costs. Lifetime costs shall be
calculated as the sum of the following:

o Transition costs.

o Cost of application and website maintenance and support services over 2

years.

o Cost of application and website enhancement and development services.

This will be calculated on the basis of a requirement for 120 man days of
application design and development services in each of years 1 and 2.

 Demonstrable ability and experience in providing the required services (250

marks)

Under this heading tenderers will be evaluated under the following criteria:

o Their and the proposed personnel’s ability and experience in providing:

o Lotus notes based application and website maintenance and support

services.

o Lotus notes based application and website design, development and

implementation services.

32
 Contract management arrangements and quality assurance procedures in
place within the tendering organisation (80 marks)

Under this heading tenderers will be evaluated under the following criteria:

o The approach proposed to contract management to ensure the Courts Service

receives a high quality service throughout the contract period.

o Quality assurance procedures.

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 Appendix A: Conditions of Tender

Detailed contractual arrangements are beyond the scope of this document. However,
the following conditions apply in respect of this tender and should be noted and
agreed in the response document. The Courts Service will however require that where
appropriate all or some of these terms and conditions will be reflected in the contract
agreed with the successful tenderer.

A1 The Courts Service requires that all information provided pursuant to this Invitation to
Tender will be treated as contractually binding on the tenderer. The Courts Service,
however reserves the right to seek clarification or verification of any such information.
Any such clarification or verification provided shall also be treated as contractually
binding on the tenderer.

A2 It will be a condition for the award of the contract that the successful tenderer will be
required to promptly produce a Tax Clearance Certificate or a C2 certificate from the
Irish Revenue Commissioners. In addition, the successful tenderer must retain the tax
reference numbers of any subcontractors whose payments exceed €650. Where
payments exceed €2,600 in any 12 month period the subcontractor will be required to
produce either a current tax clearance certificate or a current C2 certificate.

A successful non-resident contractor will be required to comply with the tax clearance
requirements set out in circular 43/2006 (Tax clearance procedures Public sector
contracts – see below).

Any and all payments under the contract will be conditional on the successful tenderer
being in possession of a valid appropriate certificate at all times.

As an alternative to producing a valid tax clearance certificate the successful tenderer

may authorise the Courts Service to confirm electronically that the successful tenderer
holds a valid tax clearance certificate using the on line verification facility on the
Revenue Commissioners website www.revenue.ie.

It will be a condition for the award of contract that the successful tenderer comply with
the terms of circular 43/2006 (Tax clearance procedures Public sector contracts) which
is available on the Department of Finance website www.finance.gov.ie.

A3 Any Conflicts of Interest involving a tenderer (or sub-contractors in the event of a

consortium bid) must be fully disclosed to the Courts Service, particularly where there
is a conflict of interest in relation to any recommendations or proposals put forward by
the tenderer.

A4 Payment for services provided pursuant to this Invitation to Tender will be on foot of
appropriate invoices. Invoicing arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the
successful supplier in due course and will be subject to the Prompt Payment of
Accounts Act. 1997, (No. 31 of 1997).

The successful tenderer, (where relevant), will be required to pay subcontractors in

accordance with the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act, 1997, (No. 31 of 1997).

34
A5 Any registerable interest involving the tenderer and the Courts Service, members of the
Government, members of the Oireachtas or their relatives must be fully disclosed in the
response to this RFT, or should be communicated to the Courts Service immediately
upon such information becoming known to the tenderer in the event of this information
only coming to their notice after the submission of a bid and prior to the award of the
contract. The terms ‘registerable interest' and ‘relative' shall be interpreted in
accordance with section 2 of the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1994.”

A6 The Courts Service proposes to release the

following information relating to this procurement exercise on request:

(a) the name and address of the successful tenderer,

(b) the overall contract value of the successful tender,

and the tenderer consents to such release.

A7 The Courts Service undertakes to hold

confidential any information provided by suppliers in their tender subject to disclosure
of the information specified at (a) and (b) above as being information that will be
released to the public on request to meet the Courts Service obligations under law,
including the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003.

A8 Tenderers should note that under the Freedom

of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 information provided in their tender may,
notwithstanding the foregoing, be liable to be disclosed where the public interest value
of releasing such information is deemed to outweigh the right to confidentiality. The
Courts Service will consult with the tenderer supplying confidential information before
making any decision on releasing such information in response to a request under the
Freedom of Information Acts.

A9 Tenderers are requested to consider if any of

the information supplied in responses to this Invitation to Tender (including that
specified at (a) and (b) above) should not be disclosed because of its sensitivity.
Tenderers should when providing the information, identify this and specify the reason
for its sensitivity. If such information is not identified as sensitive and the Courts
Service on consideration does not deem it sensitive, then such information is liable to be
released in response to a Freedom of Information request without further consultation
with the tenderer. The Courts Service will consult with any tenderer about sensitive
information before making a decision on any Freedom of Information request received.
If tenderers consider that none of the information supplied is sensitive, a statement
should be provided to this effect. Such information is liable to be released in response to
a Freedom of Information request. Tenderers will be required to complete the Freedom
of Information Declaration at Appendix E.

A10 Information provided in proposals and in

subsequent clarification discussions and written communications between the parties
including prices, contractual options, availability dates and services offered by the

35
 tenderer will be considered to form part of the basis of any contractual arrangements in
the event of a proposal or proposals being accepted by the Courts Service. The
following will form part of the contract documents:-

• this invitation to tender

• the tenderer’s tender documentation
• modifications and amendments to the above documents formally agreed in
writing between the parties to the contract and
• the final terms and conditions agreed between the parties to the contract.

The contract will not be concluded/take effect until 14 days after unsuccessful tenderers
have been notified of the result of this tendering procedure

A11 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, comply, and ensure that
its staff and subcontractors comply, with all relevant Health and Safety legislation and
codes of practice issued by the Health and Safety Authority.

A12 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, comply with all
statutory requirements attaching both to general and specific work activities, including,
but not limited to, the use of visual display units, manual handling, use of work
equipment, maintenance and construction work.

A13 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, ensure that all work is
undertaken safely and does not give rise to health risks.

A14 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, ensure that all work
equipment and workplaces, or adaptations of existing work equipment or workplaces,
comply with relevant statutory requirements from the outset and shall produce and
maintain written risk assessments and safety statements for all of its areas of activities.

A15 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, comply with, and
ensure that its staff and subcontractors comply with, all relevant employment legislation
including all relevant employment regulation orders in force from time to time and all
codes of practices issued by the Labour Relations Commission.

A16 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, ensure that all persons
employed in connection with the provision of services under the contract, are paid rates
of wages, provided pension and other benefits and required to work hours of
employment which are not less favourable than those laid down by any applicable joint
industrial council and/or joint labour committee and set out in a registered employment
agreement. The expressions “joint industrial council”, “joint labour committee” and
“registered employment agreement” will have the meanings set out in the Industrial
Relations Acts 1946 – 2004.

A17 The service provider will, throughout the period of the contract, ensure that it, and any

36
 sub-contractors engaged by it, have adequate knowledge of all relevant employment
policies of the Courts Service including, without limitation, health and safety, fire safety
policies and data protection policies. In addition, the service provider, and any sub-
contractors engaged by it, will comply with all reasonable directions of the Courts
Service in relation to the subject matter of those policies and other employment policies.

A18 During the course of the tendering process, tenderers will have access to and be
entrusted with information in respect of the dealings, transactions and affairs of the
Courts Service. All of this information is confidential and the tenderers must not
divulge such confidential information (except in relation to the conduct of the tender)
to any person, corporation or other legal entity or otherwise make use of any
confidential information concerning the dealings, transactions and affairs of the Courts
Service.

A19 The service provider shall be responsible for the whole of the work. The successful
tenderer shall be prohibited from transferring or assigning, directly or indirectly, to any
person or persons, corporation or other legal entity, any part of the whole of the contract
without the prior written approval of the Courts Service. At the time of applying for
prior written approval the successful tenderer will submit a copy of the proposed
contract/agreement that it intends to enter into by way of the transfer or assignment of
its obligations. The proposed contract/agreement will contain a similar restriction to that
outlined above so as to prevent a transfer or an assignment of the obligation so assigned
to another party other than that approved by the Courts Service. Successful tenderers
will be required to comply and ensure that all sub-contractors comply with the general
conditions of contract and in particular the terms relating to compliance with relevant
legislation in particular the Organisation of Working Time, the Health and Safety and
the Data Protection legislation. The service provider will indemnify the Courts Service
in respect of any liability arising from acts or omissions of permitted sub-contractors.

A20 The service provider will indemnify the Courts Service against any liabilities which
may arise by virtue of any action or omission on the part of the service provider or
otherwise which gives rise to either its employees or the employees of any sub-
contractors being construed as an employee of the Courts Service including but not
limited to any claims by any such person arising from termination of the contract or
his/her engagement by the service provider and/or subcontractor including but not
limited to any damages, legal fees and expenses involved in defending such claims
suffered or incurred by the Courts Service.

A21 The service provider will be required on or before the termination of the contract or at
any time upon request to deliver up to the Courts Service all information about its
current workforce, including, without limitation, numbers of employees, capacity in
which employed and length of service. The service provider will also be required to
obtain and deliver up to the Courts Service, at any time upon request, similar
information from all sub-contractors.

37
A22 The service provider shall comply with, and ensure that all the service provider’s
personnel and any subcontractors are aware of and comply with, the Data Protection
Acts 1988-2003 as amended.

A23 The service provider shall be responsible for the delivery of all services provided for
within the contract on the basis of a fixed price agreement set at the beginning of the
contract. Prices quoted in the tender cannot be increased during the currency of the
tender. Similarly, terms and conditions cannot be altered.

A24 The Courts Service retains the right to withhold payment and such other remedies
where a contractor has failed to meet his/her contractual obligations in relation to the
delivery of services to an agreed level of quality or otherwise.

A25 The Courts Service will not be liable in respect of any costs incurred by tenderers in the
preparation of tenders or any associated work effort.

A26 Responses to this ITT will be evaluated in their own right. No recognition will be given
to information previously submitted.

A27 The Courts Service is not bound to accept the lowest or any tender submitted.

A28 Tenders must be completed in accordance with the format specified in Section 4.
Tenders which are incomplete will not be evaluated.

A29 Under EU Public Procurement Directives the Courts Service is required to publish a
Contract Award Notice in the OJEU containing certain information, including the name
of the successful tenderer, relating to the award of this contract.

A30 The service provider will warrant and represent to the Court Services that it will
perform its obligations under the contract with the skill, care and diligence to be
expected of an expert supplier of support and development services and provide other
usual warranties and representations in respect of the services. The service provider
will be expected to indemnify the Courts Service against all losses incurred as a result
of any damage to real or personal property belonging to the Courts Service or injury to
persons, including injury resulting in death. The service provider will be required to
take out, at its own cost, the necessary insurance required by the Courts Service to cover
all claims that might possibly arise for it under the contract.

A31 The service provider shall be required to meet the service levels set out in the Service
Level Agreement. If the service provider does not at any time provide the services in
accordance with the contract or the Service Level Agreement in any material respect,
the Courts Service may itself provide or may employ and pay a third party service
provider to provide the services or any part of the services – commonly referred to as

38
 “Step-In Rights” for a service recipient. The reasonable costs incurred by the Courts
Service in doing this may be deducted from any sums due to the service provider or
shall be recoverable from the service provider by the Courts Service as a debt, and the
service provider may only resume delivery of the services once the Courts Service is
satisfied that it is capable of doing so.

A32 The service provider recognises that all intellectual property rights in any of the data
and any deliverables the subject matter of the contract, shall vest in and remain with the
Courts Service.

A33 All relations between the party, including the contract, shall be governed by and
interpreted in accordance with Irish law.

A34 Four (4) hardcopies of the tender marked “Tender for Lotus Notes and Website
support and development services” and an additional electronic copy of the tender,
preferably on a CD-ROM and in Microsoft Word or equivalent format, in a sealed
envelope should be submitted.

A35 Tenders will be opened in the ICT Directorate of the Courts Service in the presence of
nominated officials of the Courts Service as well as an independent observer at 14.00
(local time) on 20 December 2007.

A36 The tenderer must confirm that the tender holds good for 90 days after the closing date
for receipt of tenders.

A37 Tenderers must confirm that they have read the conditions of tender and that they are
fully agreeable to the said conditions without exception (Appendix F).

A38 Tenders should be prepared in English or Irish only.

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Appendix B: Article of the EU Directive 2004/18/EC

Personal situation of the candidate or tenderer

1. Any candidate or tenderer who has been the subject of a conviction by definitive
judgment of which the contracting authority is aware for one or more of the reasons listed
below shall be excluded from participation in a public contract:

(a) participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2(1) of Council Joint

Action 98/733/JHA 1;

(b) corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Council Act of 26 May 1997 2 and Article 3(1)
of Council Joint Action 98/742/JHA 3 respectively;

(c) fraud within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention relating to the protection of the
financial interests of the European Communities 4;

(d) money laundering, as defined in Article 1 of Council Directive 91/308/EEC of

10 June 1991 on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money
laundering 5.

Member States shall specify, in accordance with their national law and having regard for
Community law, the implementing conditions for this paragraph.

They may provide for derogation from the requirement referred to in the first subparagraph for
overriding requirements in the general interest.

For the purposes of this paragraph, the contracting authorities shall, where appropriate, ask
candidates or tenderers to supply the documents referred to in paragraph 3 and may, where they
have doubts concerning the personal situation of such candidates or tenderers, also apply to the
competent authorities to obtain any information they consider necessary on the personal
situation of the candidates or tenderers concerned. Where the information concerns a candidate
or tenderer established in a State other than that of the contracting authority, the contracting
authority may seek the cooperation of the competent authorities. Having regard for the national
laws of the Member State where the candidates or tenderers are established, such requests shall
relate to legal and/or natural persons, including, if appropriate, company directors and any
person having powers of representation, decision or control in respect of the candidate or
tenderer.

2. Any economic operator may be excluded from participation in a contract who:

(a) is bankrupt or is being wound up, whose affairs are being administered by the court, who
has entered into an arrangement with creditors, who has suspended business activities or
who is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure under national laws
and regulations;
1
OJ L 351, 29.12.1998, p. 1.
2
OJ C 195, 25.6.1997, p. 1.
3
OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p.2.
4
OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 48.
5
OJ L 166, 28.6.1991, p. 77. Directive as amended by Directive 2001/97/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 4 December 2001 (OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 76).

40
(b) is the subject of proceedings for a declaration of bankruptcy, for an order for compulsory
winding up or administration by the court or of an arrangement with creditors or of any
other similar proceedings under national laws and regulations;

(c) has been convicted by a judgment which has the force of res judicata in accordance with
the legal provisions of the country of any offence concerning his professional conduct;

(d) has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the
contracting authorities can demonstrate;

(e) has not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions in
accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which he is established or with
those of the country of the contracting authority;

(f) has not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal
provisions of the country in which he is established or with those of the country of the
contracting authority;

(g) is guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required under this
Section or has not supplied such information.

Member States shall specify, in accordance with their national law and having regard for
Community law, the implementing conditions for this paragraph.

3. Contracting authorities shall accept the following as sufficient evidence that none of the
cases specified in paragraphs 1 or 2(a), (b), (c), (e) or (f) applies to the economic operator:

(a) as regards paragraphs 1 and 2(a), (b) and (c), the production of an extract from the
"judicial record" or, failing that, of an equivalent document issued by a competent
judicial or administrative authority in the country of origin or the country whence that
person comes showing that these requirements have been met;
(b) as regards paragraph 2(e) and (f), a certificate issued by the competent authority in the
Member State concerned.

Where the country in question does not issue such documents or certificates, or where these do
not cover all the cases specified in paragraphs 1 and 2(a), (b) and (c), they may be replaced by a
declaration on oath or, in Member States where there is no provision for declarations on oath,
by a solemn declaration made by the person concerned before a competent judicial or
administrative authority, a notary or a competent professional or trade body, in the country of
origin or in the country whence that person comes.

4. Member States shall designate the authorities and bodies competent to issue the
documents, certificates or declarations referred to in paragraph 3 and shall inform the
Commission thereof. Such notification shall be without prejudice to data protection law.

41
 Appendix C: Declaration (as per Article 45 of Directive 2004/18/EC).

THIS DECLARATION, DULY COMPLETED, MUST BE SUBMITTED BY ALL

TENDERERS

Name of Tenderer:

Address:

Country: __________________________________________________

Please tick Yes or No as appropriate to the following statements relating to the current status of
your organisation.

(1) The Tenderer is bankrupt or is being wound up or its affairs are being administered by the
court or has entered into an arrangement with creditors or has suspended business activities or
is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure under national laws and
regulations.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(2) The Tenderer is the subject of proceedings for a declaration of bankruptcy, for an order for
compulsory winding up or administration by the court or for an arrangement with creditors or
of any other similar proceedings under national laws and regulations.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(3) The Tenderer, a Director or Partner, has been convicted of an offence concerning his
professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata or been guilty of grave
professional misconduct in the course of their business.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(4) The Tenderer has not fulfilled its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social
security contributions in Ireland or any other State in which the tenderer is located.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(5) The Tenderer, a Director or Partner has been found guilty of fraud.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(6) The Tenderer, a Director or Partner has been found guilty of money laundering.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(7) The Tenderer, a Director or Partner has been found guilty of corruption.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(8) The Tenderer, a Director or Partner has been convicted of being a member of a criminal
organisation.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(9) The Tenderer has been guilty of serious misrepresentation in providing information to a
public buying agency.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
(10) The Tenderer has contrived to misrepresent its Health & Safety information, Quality
Assurance information, or any other information relevant to this application.
Yes [ ] No [ ]

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THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETED AND SIGNED BY A DULY AUTHORISED
OFFICER OF THE TENDERER’S ORGANISATION
I certify that the information provided above is accurate and complete to the best of my
knowledge and belief.
I understand that the provision of inaccurate or misleading information in this
declaration may lead to my organisation being excluded from participation in future
tenders.

SIGNATURE DATE:

NAME TEL:

POSITION

43
Appendix D: Schedule of Costs

Tenderers should refer to section 4.9 (Presentation of Charges) before completing the tables set
out hereunder.

Table 1:- Charges for application and website maintenance and support

Support services Fixed charge Fixed charge

Year 1 Year 2
Lotus Notes
application &
websites support

Table 2:- Charges for content management

Category Fixed Rate per Fixed Rate Per

Year 1 Year 2
Support cost for
Content
Management

Licensing costs

Table 3:- Charges for application enhancement and development and associated services

Category Fixed Rate per Fixed Rate Per

Day Day
Year 1 Year 2
Application
design &
development
Web
development
services
Project
Management

Business
Analysts

Systems
Analysts

Notes System
administrator

44
45
Table 4:- Charges for transition services outlined at section 3.4.1

Description of Service Fixed Charge including any

out of pocket expenses

Table 5:- Charges for the optional additional services outlined at Section 3.7.1 above

Category Fixed Rate per Fixed Rate per

Day Day
Year 1 Year 2
Additional
services

Project
Management

Additionally in respect of support and maintenance, the tenderer should indicate the costs
associated with providing a callout service for unscheduled, out of hours support in exceptional
circumstances.

All the above quoted rates should include all costs and expenses associated with the
provision of the services requested. The currently applicable rate of VAT should also be
indicated.

Tenderers must also indicate proposed equivalent charges should the contract be extended for a
further 2 years on an annual basis.

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Appendix E: Freedom of Information Declaration

In the event of a request being received under the Freedom of Information Act, is any of the
information provided in this tender so commercially sensitive as to be unrealisable.
Please Write Yes/No ________________________________________
If answer is yes please indicate what information you consider to be commercially sensitive.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Appendix F: Tenderers Declaration

DECLARATION TO BE COMPLETED BY TENDERER

I confirm that I am authorised by my company to submit and sign the tender response form for
the item for which we have tendered. I confirm that I have read the tender specification and
general condition of the tender and that my company accepts the conditions and can comply
with same. I also confirm that I am not aware of any conflict of interest or registerable interests
which should be disclosed to the Courts Service in relation to submission of this tender
response. I further confirm that the tender holds good for 90 days after the closing date for
receipt of tenders. I also enclose a current Tax Clearance Certificate for my company.

Signed_______________________________
Position in Company: ___________________
Dated

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