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Information and Communications Technology

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 May 2025

Thursday, 8 May 2025

Questions (284)

Cathy Bennett

Question:

284. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Finance the number of IT projects within his Department, or bodies under its aegis, which have been allocated funds in excess of €1 million in the years 2020 to date; the purpose of any projects; the initial estimate to complete for such projects; the total amount expended to date; the total estimated cost to complete; the estimated timeframe by which they expected to be completed; by project; by year; in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22941/25]

View answer

Written answers

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not undertaken or commissioned IT projects in excess €1 million in the timeframe specified.

The Central Bank of Ireland was unable to provide the requested information in the timeline available. A follow up response will be provided in line with standing orders. The remaining bodies under the aegis of the Department have advised as follows:

In the years 2020-2024, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) had no IT projects with allocated funding in excess of €1 million. A project to replace the existing Case Management System is underway and is subject to a live procurement process which is commercially sensitive. A tender was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in October 2024 and is currently under active evaluation. The FSPO expects to be able to award a contract in the next two months, with the next phase expected to commence in Q2 2025. Due to the ongoing tender process, the FSPO cannot disclose any costs at this time but can confirm a winning tender has not yet been selected. It should be noted that when publishing the Request for Tenders in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) via eTenders, the expected indicative cost was stated as €3 million, to include development followed by 3 years of software licencing, maintenance and managed services. The projected cost and timeframe will depend on the outcome of the ongoing tender process.

National Asset Management Agency (NAMA)

Year (2020 to date)

IT projects in excess of €1 million

Initial estimate to complete for such projects (Including VAT)

Total amount expended to date (Including VAT)

Total estimated cost to complete (Including VAT)

Estimated timeframe by which they expected to be completed

2023 - 2024

NAMA Records Management Policy Implementation & Documents Management ToolIn July 2022, as part of the NAMA Board's winddown planning, it approved the establishment of a project team to implement and ensure legal compliance with NAMA’s data retention obligations. A number of IT actions were undertaken with respect to electronic documents, email, hardcopy, and the internal development of a specific purpose document management catalogue and records categorisation tool.

€3,539,036

€2,363,622

n/a

Project Delivered

National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA)

• The response provided is in respect of all projects undertaken by the NTMA in support of its operations.

• This analysis excludes licensing of IT systems.

• Capital projects commissioned or directed by another State body or Department or delivered by NTMA as part of its mandated external facing functions are not considered within the scope of this request.

• The Portfolio Management System includes costs associated with feature enhancements not included in the original project cost estimate.

• The NTMA provides certain business and support services and systems to Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Information and communications technology (ICT) services are one such service provided to these bodies.

Year (2020 to date in 2025)

IT projects in excess of €1 million

Initial estimate to complete for such projects (Including VAT)

Total amount expended to date (Including VAT)

Total estimated cost to complete (Including VAT)

Estimated timeframe by which they expected to be completed

2020

Portfolio Management System

€ 2.327m

€ 2.799m

Project completed

Project completed

2024

Server Hardware refresh

€ 3m

€ 2.552m

Project completed

Project completed

Office of the Revenue Commissioners

The Office of the Revenue Commissioners owns and manages a very large and highly integrated set of ICT services. It should be noted that these services are developed, maintained and operated by teams from Revenue’s own ICT Division which are augmented with external resources drawn from a number of system integrators. These external resources are acquired through open public procurement, the most recent of which concluded in late 2024. All Revenue ICT projects are tightly managed with oversight and governance from both the IT Executive Board and the Programme Management Office (PMO).

The figures below show the cost of ICT projects/initiatives and do not represent the cost of recurring Business As Usual work required to maintain and enhance essential functions and existing services. In some cases, additional work is taken on during the life of a project to support key changes to business requirements.

Year (2020 to date in 2025)

IT projects in excess of €1 million

Initial estimate to complete for such projects (Including VAT)

Total amount expended to date (Including VAT)

Total estimated cost to complete (Including VAT)

Estimated timeframe by which they expected to be completed

2020

Union Customs Code (UCC)1

€5,174,147

€4,966,239

N/A - completed

Completed

2020 – 2022

Brexit

€2,130,000

€2,130,000

N/A - completed

Completed

2022-2023

RevWorkPlace Phase 12

€3,446,340

€3,298,823

N/A - completed

Completed

2023

Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) 3

€1,356,980

€999,657

N/A - completed

Completed

2023-2024

RevWorkPlace Phase 22

€4,719,400

€4,794,822

N/A - completed

Completed

2023-2024

RevWorkPlace Phase 32

€3,799,580

€3,487,501

N/A - completed

Completed

2023-2024

Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR)4

€2,414,150

€2,206,247

N/A - completed

Completed

2025

RevWorkPlace Phase 42

€1,064,150

€904,737

€1,218,041

30/6/25

Union Customs Code (UCC)

The project primarily covers work required to deliver new customs systems as defined under the Union Customs Code.

RevWorkPlace Phase 1 - Phase 4

Many of Revenue’s internal systems that are core to maintaining our case base are becoming legacy from a technical perspective. RevWorkPlace involves the creation of a new framework and the development of an initial desktop application. The Common Registration System (CRS) was chosen as the initial application to modernise.

Vacant Homes Tax (VHT)

The programme of work allowed Revenue to incorporate VHT into Revenue’s core operating systems.

Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR)

This project extended the reporting obligations for additional payments made by employers to directors/employees.

Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI)

Year (2020 to date in 2025)

IT projects in excess of €1 million

Initial estimate to complete for such projects (Including VAT)

Total amount expended to date (Including VAT)

Total estimated cost to complete (Including VAT)

Estimated timeframe by which they expected to be completed

2021- 2023

SBCI Hub – platform for engaging with SME’s and On-Lenders for SBCI Loan schemes (Initial build of the Hub - phases 1 & 2)

€1.9m

€1.6m

Phase 1 and 2 completed in Q1 2024.

N/A

2024

Additional development of SBCI Hub for 2024

€0.65m

€0.68m

2024 development completed

N/A

2025

Additional development of SBCI Hub for 2025

€0.93m

€0.24m

€0.68m

30 Dec 2025

Note – the development for the SBCI Hub is ongoing as the SBCI develop new loan schemes on this platform.

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