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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 23 Nov 1967

Vol. 231 No. 5

Ceisteanna—Questions (Resumed). - Computers in Government Departments.

59.

asked the Minister for Finance what Government Departments are making use of the ICT 1301 and the Honeywell 1200 computers; for what form of work they are using them; and the estimated savings to these Departments.

60.

asked the Minister for Finance if the forecast of the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners that there would be estimated savings of £37,000 on the installation of the ICT 1301 computer and savings of £205,000 on the installation of the Honeywell 1200 computer, has been fulfilled.

I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 59 and 60 together.

The Government Departments at present using the Revenue Commissioners' computer are the Revenue Commissioners' Office itself, the Department of Education and the Department of Transport and Power.

The Revenue Commissioners are using the ICT computer to calculate tax liability, to issue notices of assessment and to collect and control income tax, sur-tax, other than PAYE, and corporation profits tax. The computer is also used to account for employers' remittances under PAYE, as well as general ancillary work under that scheme, and also does accounting work for turnover tax, wholesale tax and dance tax.

The ICT 1301 is currently being replaced by a Honeywell computer installation, an installation of far greater capacity. In addition to carrying out the work of the ICT machine, the Honeywell will take on the substantial work involved on the employee side of PAYE, including the calculation of tax-free allowances and the issue of tax-free allowance certificates. This work is being taken over in stages.

The estimated savings of £37,000 a year in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners from the use of the ICT 1301 computer have been fulfilled. It is too early to say yet whether the estimated saving of £205,000 a year from the Honeywell installation will be realised but results to date indicate that it will, when the full range of Revenue work has been automated, as planned.

Apart from the question of savings, it should be borne in mind that the computer has enabled work to be done which, without it, could scarcely have been undertaken at all.

The ICT 1301 is being used to prepare standard pay cards, each month, for the payment of national teachers' salaries. The estimated saving to the Department of Education is about £2,000 per annum.

The ICT machine is also used by the Meteorological Service in the Department of Transport and Power. Valuable meteorological data, required in airports and other places, which could not be complied under a manual system are produced on the computer. There has been no increase or decrease in staff costs.

Studies and analyses are in progress with a view to transferring other work to the enlarged computer installation in the Revenue Commissioners' Office. The main Departments concerned at present, apart from those already indicated, are the Office of Public Works, the Department of Agriculture and the Paymaster-General's Office.

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