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Information Technology.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006

Tuesday, 4 July 2006

Questions (576, 577, 578, 579, 580)

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

588 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the information technology purchasing requirements, for both hardware and software, in his Department for the second half of 2006; the requirements for which tender requests have been issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26043/06]

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Ruairí Quinn

Question:

589 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his Department’ information technology purchasing policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26058/06]

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Ruairí Quinn

Question:

590 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the percentage of information technology spend in his Department that went to Irish SMEs in each year from 2002 to date in 2006; the percentage for European Union and European Economic Area SMEs; if systems are in place in his Department’s procurement procedures to give preference to SMEs, such as the weighting system in place in the Local Government Computer Services Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26073/06]

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Ruairí Quinn

Question:

591 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average size of information technology procurement contracts in his Department; the median size of such contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26088/06]

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Ruairí Quinn

Question:

592 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps he is taking to support the development of the indigenous software industry through his Department’s public procurement process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26103/06]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 588 to 592, inclusive, together.

The effective operation of my Department is dependent upon the provision of a secure, stable and flexible IT network. The IT procurement policy is designed to support this requirement, while also securing best value for money. This is in part done by, where possible, drawing off Civil Service-wide procurement contracts for equipment and services thereby securing savings due to economies of scale. Where there are no Civil Service-wide contracts in place the agencies operating within the Justice Group of Votes — the Department, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (to name but a few) — increasingly design IT drawdown contracts that can be drawn upon by other agencies within the Group, thereby leveraging the procurement power of the Group to incur savings — not only through economies of scale, but also significant administrative savings in not having to repeatedly run the same, or similar, tender competitions.

The Department itself has in recent years adopted operating systems which have enabled old equipment, such as personal computers otherwise at the end of their working lives, to be reused.

The Department is bound by European and Irish public procurement rules which are designed to maximise competition and to ensure that the market is tested to obtain best value for money. This limits the scope of the Department to target its spending at any one particular sector or sectors. The Department selects its suppliers on the basis of best value for money and business will be awarded to the tenderer offering best value, regardless of size or location.

The Official Journal of the European Commission in 2003 (L 124/36, 20th May 2003) provided a detailed definition of what a small to medium enterprise is. The Department does not hold sufficiently detailed information on its suppliers to be able to determine whether or not they fall into this category. It should also be borne in mind that many of the Department's major suppliers sub-contract work to other businesses which could fall within the category of small to medium sized.

My Department is unaware of the Local Government Computer Services Board weighting system, but will examine it and see if it can be applied.

Much of the Department's procurement is on a drawdown basis and was awarded on, basically, a per unit cost with quantities being drawn down as and when needed. This makes it very difficult to give an average size to the contracts. During 2005 the Department's overall IT expenditure was €3.35 million. Expenditure for 2006 is expected to exceed this figure.

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