I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 161 together.
The figure for telephones quoted by the Deputy includes expenditure on landline calls, mobile calls and data lines. Data lines are used to connect the three buildings occupied by the Office, and to provide a connection to the Attorney General's Office and high speed connections to the government network. These connections are duplicated to allow for business to continue in the event of line failure or other loss of connectivity. Of the total of €540,795 quoted, some €168,000 is attributable to data lines over the three years.
Some €240,000 is attributable to landline use over the three years giving an average spend of €80,000 per year. Based on a staff of approximately 220, this shows an average spend of €364 per staff member per year.
€132,000 was spent on mobile phones over the three years giving an average spend of €44,000 per year. The average spend per mobile phone user over the three year period was €404 per annum.
All staff have access to a landline telephone extension from the Office switchboard.
Senior management and legal staff who attend court or are regularly out of the Office on business have been allocated mobile phones. Some staff are allocated mobile phones on a temporary basis while on call or working on specific cases. As a rule the Office avails of offers of free mobile phones from the contracted supplier. Specific phones have been bought for five Officers within the last two years at a cost of approximately €1,500.
The Office mobile phone contract has an ‘all in' price for calls and text to Irish numbers. The Office has a policy whereby personal usage outside this price is recouped from staff.
The Office considers that it achieves value for money with its telecommunications services.