Vol. 557 No. 1
188 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Finance the detail of the contract agreed between the Government and a company (details supplied) to supply a communications infrastructure to State institutions nationally; when this contract was agreed; and the period of time of same. [21382/02]
In response to the need to provide carrier services to support e-Government and to attain best value from public sector expenditure on telecommunications services, my Department signed a master draw-down contract with a consortium comprising Eircom and Vodafone Ireland for a range of both voice and data telecommunications services for the public service in May 2002. Specifically, the contract provides for: fixed, mobile and lo-call telephony services for all sectors of Government; managed data services to support the intranet needs of various sectors of the public service, interconnectivity with the reach services portal and ultimately the public services broker, and public service access to the Internet and secure data connectivity for mobile or e-working employees, agents or partners of Government agencies to Government servers, portals and networks.
The voice services have been contracted for three years, with an option to renew for a further two years to a maximum of five years in total. The data services have been contracted for two years with the option to renew on an annual basis to a maximum of five years in total.
The fixed voice services and data services in the provision of on-line services to the public are mandatory under this contract. All other elements are at the discretion of agencies, subject to normal procurement procedures. The contract provides for significant tariff reductions and volume discounts that were not available to public service organisations previously.
