Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2014
138. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the total amount of outsourcing that has been achieved in his Department since the letter sent by Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in March 2012; the names of the outsourcing companies that have been involved; the total savings achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3297/14]
View answerMy Department operates a number of shared or outsourced services including:
- an ICT Shared service agreement with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) which has been in place prior to March 2012;
- a payroll service outsourced to the Department of Finance which has also been in place prior to March 2012;
- the Head of Internal Audit Unit which is currently outsourced to Tierney & Associates with some audit processing work carried out by Capita consultants in a shared service contract with three other Government Departments;
- a shared Irish language translation function with An Post.
Certain HR functions within my Department are due to transition to the public service HR shared service, PeoplePoint, in June 2014. The Department is also part of the project team that is examining the case for shared financial management services in the public sector.
While it is difficult to identify and apportion elements of savings, these changes have supported my Department in achieving a reduction in its Administrative Budget Estimate from €26.8 million in 2010 to €23.8 million in 2014.
In addition, my Departmental remit includes complex policy areas, oversight of State regulation and service provision across key strategic services such as energy and public broadcasting and regulation of sectors such as mining and hydrocarbon exploration. Given the technical complexity, economic significance and community interest in these areas, my Department necessarily incurs expenditure on outsourced expert advice and service provision from time to time. Details of these projects have been set out in replies to a number of Parliamentary Questions, most recently 479 of 15 January, 186 of 16 January and 402 of 21 January.
