Wright’s Airport Convenience Store Ltd, trading as Wright’s Food Fayre, has brought the challenge against the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) which awarded the contract to Smart Horizon Ltd following a public procurement competition. Smart Horizon is a notice party in the case.
As a result of the lodging of the challenge, the awarding of the contract is automatically suspended under EU public procurement rules until the court decides whether the suspension should be lifted.
Seeking to have the matter dealt with as expeditiously as possible, Donagh Hardiman BL, for the DAA, applied on Monday to have the case admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court on consent from Daragh Breen BL, for Wrights.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey entered the case to the commercial list and approved directions for progressing it. He adjourned it to May.
The court heard the current contract is due to run out on March 31, and 51 people are employed by Wright’s.
The contract involves the provision of what are described as 24/7 “foodvenience” services in the Terminal 1 atrium unit and a coffee pod/truck to be situated next to the atrium.
It will provide deli, hot food, fresh bakery, “grab and go” offerings, as well as soft drinks, tea and coffee.
It will also sell items such as bus tickets, Leap cards, lottery and mobile top-ups.
Wright’s estimates the value of the contract over five years will be €9.4m.
Sorcha Nic Eoin, DAA head of commercial B2B, said in an affidavit seeking entry of the case to the commercial list that Wright’s is the incumbent.
It was one of five bidders for the contract which entered the competition last July.
The provision of these services captures both arriving and departing passengers, staff and visitors, she said.
Although there are other providers of similar services at the airport, “comparatively few offer as wide a range of services and do so on a 24/7 basis”.
The contract, Ms Nic Eoin said, is “one of key strategic importance” to the operation of the airport which handles 84pc of flights in and out of Ireland. Given that the Terminal 1 atrium operates in a high footfall location, a large proportion of those passengers can be expected to make use of the services, she said.
In its statement of claim, Wright’s, with a registered address at West Pier, Howth, Co Dublin, seeks, among other things, the permanent suspension or setting aside of the contract and an order directing the DAA to start a new procurement process.
It claims, among other things, that the DAA’s evaluation of the tenders was vitiated by manifest error and it wrongly and/or incorrectly applied the award criteria.
It also claims the DAA failed to inform Wright’s of the reasons, or provide adequate reasons, for the rejection of its tender and also failed to treat all economic operators equally and without discrimination.
The court heard the DAA rejects these and all other claims made by Wright’s in regard to the tender process.