New contract offer for Dáil video service 68% higher than previous tender

Screen grab taken from Oireachtas TV of the TDs in the Dail Eireann applauding the families of the victims of the Stardust fire. Picture: Oireachtas TV/PA

A contract to provide video services for Dáil Éireann has been offered for a second time at a value of €13.5m — some 68% higher than when the original tender was placed.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, the body with responsibility for administering Leinster House and Government Buildings, has gone to tender seeking a qualified contractor to provide televised coverage of all Oireachtas proceedings over a five-year timeframe.

The same contract was previously offered last September at a value of €8.05m, but was eventually pulled when no bids were received.

At present, video of Dáil proceedings is being provided by the previous contractor, PI Communications, on a temporary basis for the duration of 2026 at a cost of €2.2m.

It is unclear what parameters were used when arriving at the €13.5m value placed on the new tender. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission had not replied to a request for comment at the time of publication.

PI Communications, before taking over emergency delivery of the video services contract last January, had stated that it would not be bidding for the €8.05m previous tender.

Asked if the company would be bidding for the new contract, a spokesperson for PI said that it “does not comment on public-sector procurement”.

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The protracted nature of the awarding of the new tender comes against a backdrop of industrial unrest among the 20 or so workers who manage live broadcasts of all Dáil, Seanad, and committee sessions.

Those workers had previously called on the Government to end their alleged low-hour contracts and poor working conditions by integrating them into the civil service.

In June 2025, at least 125 TDs and senators sent a letter to the Oireachtas Commission calling for it to directly employ the broadcast workers rather than tendering for a private service.

Last February, meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee made a submission to the Oireachtas broadcasting service recommending that an in-house broadcasting service be established within the Oireachtas, supported directly by civil servants.

PAC chairman John Brady said at the time that under that scenario, existing broadcast workers would have the opportunity to seek employment within that structure.

The Oireachtas Commission had previously played down the prospect of directly hiring broadcast staff as civil servants, with a briefing provided to TDs last August saying it would not provide “value for money” to taxpayers.