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Data Centres

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 February 2024

Tuesday, 27 February 2024

Questions (169)

Cormac Devlin

Question:

169. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the location of the data centre or centres used by his Department; the reason it was chosen; the distance it is from his Department’s offices; if he will identify the centres used by each agency under his Department’s aegis; and the distance these data centres are to their offices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9390/24]

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Written answers

My Department uses a number of data centres which are ISO 27001 certified and are located across Dublin City, the greater Dublin area, Kildare and Cork.  These data centres are a combination of private and Government owned facilities.  To ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by my Department and across the Public Service, the exact locations of these data centres cannot be supplied.

The position in respect of the bodies under the aegis of the Department is set out in the table below.

Public Body

Position regarding data centres

Office of Public Works

The OPW uses a number of data centres which are ISO 27001 certified and are located across Dublin City, the greater Dublin area, Kildare and Cork. These data centres are a combination of private and Government owned facilities. To ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by the OPW, the exact locations cannot be supplied.

National Shared Services Office

The NSSO uses a number of data centres which are ISO 27001 certified and are located across Dublin City, the greater Dublin area, Kildare and Westmeath. These data centres are a combination of private and Government owned facilities.  To ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by the NSSO, the exact locations cannot be supplied.

Public Appointments Service

The PAS uses a data centre which is located in Dublin City. This data centre is a Government owned facility. To ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by PAS, the exact location cannot be supplied.

Office of the Ombudsman

The Office uses a data centre which is owned and managed by the Revenue Commissioners.  It is a purpose built data centre and it is used for the server infrastructure of the Office, serviced with connectivity, power, cooling and Business Continuity. Revenue ICT have the specialist resources and ICT Skills to maintain a data centre of this size and it is more economical than providing the Office’s own environment.  The data centre is located in Dublin City but to ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by the Office, the exact location cannot be supplied.

State Laboratory

The State Laboratory uses two data centres, one of which is off-site, which is ISO 27001 certified and is located in Dublin City. The other is its own facility in its own building which is not certified.  The off-site data centre is a Government owned facility. To ensure the continued integrity and security of the services provided by this organisation, the exact location cannot be supplied.

Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery

The ORNL uses a Multi-Geo Data Residency service that was recommended by its expert ICT consultant for meeting its security requirements and public sector procurement obligations and best practice.

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