Dublin City Council gives notice to invoke Article 32.2(b) which allows for award of contract using the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition where the works, supplies or services can only be supplied by a particular economic operator where (ii) competition is absent for technical reasons. Dublin City Council intends to award a contract to Zellis Ireland Limited for Optimum Licenses and Support Services for three years at a value of €68,750 (excl. VAT) per annum. Optimum is a multi-user web-based system, provided by the company Zellis, and is designed to record and update the Time & Attendance activities of staff in Dublin City Council on a daily basis. The continued provision of these services is essential to maintain the Council's Time and Attendance functions and to ensure uninterrupted business operations pending the planned migration to the national Time and Attendance system currently utilised across other local authorities. The appointment of an alternative provider is not feasible for technical reasons, including system ownership, product-specific expertise, and the requirement to maintain compatibility, operational continuity and data integrity within the existing environment. The proposed contract will ensure the continued availability, support and maintenance of the Optimum software platform, thereby safeguarding service continuity, operational stability and ongoing vendor support for a period of three years. A Licence and Support Agreement will be agreed between Dublin City Council and Zellis Ireland Limited for the period and value set out above.