A company which failed to win the tender to build the €63 million National Aquatic Centre at Abbotstown in Co Dublin has settled its High Court action over the manner in which the contract was awarded.
Dublin International Arena Ltd (DIAL) had brought proceedings against Campus Stadium Ireland Development Ltd; the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation; and the State over the award of the contract in 2000 to a consortium of Waterworld UK Ltd, Rohcom Ltd and Dublin Waterworld Ltd.
DIAL alleged that consortium was not qualified to build the NAC facility which was intended to host part of the Special Olympics in 2003. The defendants had denied the claims.
The hearing, which commenced before Mr Justice Declan Budd earlier this month, was expected to last for several weeks. However, the judge was told today the matter had been resolved. No details of settlement were disclosed.
The judge adjourned the matter to a date next February to allow for implementation of the terms of settlement.
In its action, DIAL claimed the consortium would have been excluded from the tender process had vital information about it not been withheld from the Taoiseach and government.
It was further claimed the guidelines governing the public procurement process were not followed in the award of the NAC tender and that the tender process was operated in a “dysfunctional” fashion.
CSID, the State owned company which commissioned the National Aquatic Centre, had, as part of the tendering process, commissioned Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) to carry out an investigation into the bidding consortium.
The PWC report contained important information, including that Waterworld UK was a STG£4 shelf company, DIAL alleged. It also claimed there was “not a shred of truth” in claims by Waterworld UK of links with international water facility operators.
It was alleged the contents of the PWC report should have led to the Waterworld bid being disqualified.
The PWC report was submitted to CSID on December 18th, 2000, the day before a CSID committee was due to decide which of the tenders was to be accepted. DIAL also claimed information in the report was never given to members of the deciding committee, the Taoiseach or the Department of Tourism and Sport.
It was also claimed the preferred bidder was allowed to amend its original tender after a point when it should not, under the rules of the tendering process, have been permitted to do so.
In a settlement of other lengthy court proceedings in late 2006, Dublin Waterworld Ltd agreed to hand over possession of the centre to CSID after withdrawing its appeal against a High Court of April 2006 directing it to hand over possession.
Mr Justice Paul Gilligan made that order after finding “wilful” breaches of the lease for the centre both by DWL and Limerick businessman Pat Mulcair, including failure to pay more than €11 million due in rent and VAT. Because of those breaches and the breakdown of trust between DWL and CSID, the judge declared the 30-year lease granted to DWL by CSID was forfeit.
He found, in a deal done “behind the back” of CSID just hours earlier that same day, DWL breached the terms of the lease by assigning beneficial ownership of it to Mr Mulcair who in turn entered into a management agreement with Dublin Waterworld
Management Limited (DWML) - a wholly owned subsidiary of DWL - whereby DWML would manage the centre on Mr Mulcair’s behalf.
The judge noted the funding arrangements with Mr Muclair, described as a “tax-driven deal”, could be terminated if substantial capital allowances, worth some €2.8 million a year and capped at €34 million, were not secured by Mr Mulcair. This would have left DWL without a venture capital provider for the centre, he said.
