13/04/2015
Translation
service brings legal action against Garda Commisioner's after interpreter
contract awarded to rivals
A
translation service has brought a legal challenge to the Garda Commissioner's
decision to award a contract for the supply of language interpretation services
to a number of rivals.
Gardai
require interpreters when dealing with non-English speaking people and has used
Word Perfect Translation Services since 2007 including under a Department of
Justice and Law Reform framework agreement for such services.
Word
Perfect says earlier this year, following a tendering process, the Garda
Commissioner awarded the contract for translation services to Forbidden City,
trading as Translation.ie, Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin; Language Training
and Translating Ltd, t/a Context, Oranmore, Co Galway; and to Natalia Cotov,
t/a Accord Translations, Oldtown, Co Dublin.
Word
Perfect says this has been done in breach of EU public procurement regulations.
It
also claims conflict of interest in Ms Cotov's Accord Translations getting the
contract because she is married to, or is the civil partner of, a Garda Mick
Byrne who is the son of former Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne.
Word
Perfect says the current Commissioner failed to exclude Ms Cotov's company from
the competition or, at a minimum, failed to ensure the alleged conflict or
potential conflict was removed. Alternatively, there was a
failure to explain how the conflict was removed.
Word
Perfect is seeking orders under EU public procurement regulations that the
award of the contract be set aside and/or permanently suspended. It seeks
that Word Perfect instead be appointed or alternatively a new tendering process
should take place.
It
says the contract is worth €5m over four years. It provides for face-to-face
interpretation services in all garda divisions though not over-the-phone
interpretation.
The
case was admitted to the Commercial Court on Monday (April 13) by Mr Justice Brian
McGovern, on consent between the parties.
Word
Perfect says in awarding the contract to the rivals, the Commissioner failed to
comply with EU regulations and general EU law including by failing to provide
adequate reasons for the decision to select the preferred bidders.
It
is also claimed there was a failure to treat all bidders equally and that Word
Perfect was discriminated against. The decision to award the contract to
the rivals was taken in breach of Word Perfect's legitimate expectation, it
says.
In
affidavits, Word Perfect's chief operation officer, Agim (Jimmy) Gashi, says
there were a number of serious flaws in the tender process.
He
also says the Department of Justice framework, under which the service
was previously provided, was a very competitive way of procuring services and
ensured the best available price is obtained for the State.
This
is in contrast to the way the Garda Commissioner is currently procuring
services which does not involve a competitive process and results in the
payment of "over-inflated and historic prices", he says.
