Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 October 2011
508 Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total expenditure in 2010 on ICT, including staff costs, support and maintenance services, hardware, software, and external resources, including consultancies, contractors and service providers; and all agencies under the aegis of his Department. [31511/11]
View answerThe total IT expenditure for my Department in 2010 (including staff costs, support and maintenance services, external support etc.) was circa €27,200,000.
My Department provides a robust and resilient ICT infrastructure to customers, staff, agents and partners including shared service offerings to state agencies and other Government Departments. The ICT operations within my Department are a fundamental part of the payment systems for the Single Payment, REPS and other systems. The ICT system is also a key element of our animal health and animal traceability systems which are crucial to our ability to export. In addition it also supports a wide range of modern and efficient IT systems that underpin the Department's critical business processes. Savings are achieved on an ongoing basis by leveraging maximum value from existing investments, negotiating reductions on contracts and software licences, and careful management of external resources for software development.
As part of the Croke Park Agreement, a minimum of 5% saving in IT expenditure will be achieved in each year from 2012 to 2014. In relation to agencies under the aegis of my Department, the budgets and procedures in place for the purchasing of IT equipment for each State agency is an operational matter for the agencies themselves.
In order to provide the Government with a comprehensive set of decision options to meet the funding constraints in the National Recovery Plan, 2012-2014, the Department has carried out a comprehensive review of both current and capital expenditure. This Review which covers all areas of the Department's activities will be considered as part of the overall pre-budget deliberations and the 2012 Estimates process of the Government.
