Wallace: Bigger is considered best in the tendering process
IF A COMPANY tenders for work in this country one of the first things it will be asked about is its turnover, Independent Deputy Mick Wallace told the Dáil. It is not asked how good its building record is, but rather how big the company is. ‘Big is considered best,’ he said.
Speaking during a debate on the structural defects in a number of schools Deputy Wallace said he could tell the Minister that the majority of bad work in this country is done by bigger entities, not smaller ones. ‘ That is a fact,’ he said. ‘However, the Government is wedded to the financial end of things. When my company started, the rule was that unless we had completed a contract of a particular size we could not tender for work. It is absolute nonsense.’
‘How in God’s name did one company ( Western Building Systems) get so much State work?’ he asked. ‘I would love to know that. What kind of connections does it have?’
Deputy Wallace said one of his staff pulled out an article which was dated from October 2015. It reads: ‘Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan confirmed she is currently arranging the safety checks on [some] facilities built by Western Building System, which has constructed 26 schools for the State since 2008, after ... chronic problems [were exposed]’.
Yet, in 2014 and 2015 the same company was awarded contracts to build more schools by the same Government, he said. ‘Why would a company that had proved itself to be doing poor work be given more work? Can the Minister answer that question? Why does a company that has a poor track record get more work? I do not understand that. It does not make any sense. Does the standard of building matter or are one’s connections and the size of the company the only things that matter?’
In response, the Minister for Education & Skills Joe McHugh said when one speaks to people in the building trade and at a wider level it is clear that smaller companies feel that they are precluded from tendering for contracts, even when they have a proven track record, because of the turnover threshold.
‘I am on public record on that issue, and I certainly agree that it is an issue that should be grappled with,’ said. ‘We should ensure that smaller companies with good track records should not be precluded from tendering.’