A joint venture that came second in the bidding for the €368 million cross-city Luas line has alleged serious errors and a breach of rules relating to public procurement.
Portuguese construction company Somague Engenharia SA and Mayo-based civil engineers Wills Brothers Ltd jointly bid for the project.
The winners were Sisk Steconfer, comprising Dublin-based construction company, John Sisk & Son and Steconfer, a Portuguese construction firm. Somague/ Wills accept their case is about damages and no application has been made for suspension of the contract.
Their case is against Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), formed by the merger of the National Roads Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency. It is claimed evaluators applied undisclosed or impermissible criteria and misapplied the stated criteria. It is also claimed evaluators made a manifest error in assessing the tie-in with the Red Line. TII contests the claims. The case continues.