I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together.
The ICT needs of my constituency office located in my Department’s Kildare Street office are met from a pool of equipment and software created to meet business needs across my Department. Records of costs would therefore relate to batches of items procured by my Department rather than individual items specifically used by my office. The majority of the ICT equipment provided to the constituency offices of the Ministers of State in my Department was supplied by the Oireachtas. Therefore, my Department has no records in relation to that equipment. My Department has provided one laptop each to these offices. These laptops were supplied from a pool of shared laptops created to meet the business needs of my Department. Records of costs would therefore relate to batches of items procured by my Department rather than individual items specifically supplied to those offices. One second hand photocopier was moved from a previous Minister’s office to one constituency office.
The costs paid by my Department for telephony services to my constituency office and those of the Ministers of State in my Department are set out in the tabular statement below. The costs for telephones for constituency offices based in the main Department building cannot be identified separately.
|
Period
|
Total costs
|
Minister Richard Bruton
|
March 2011 to date
|
€0
|
Minister John Perry
|
March 2011 to date
|
€10,146.93
|
Minister Seán Sherlock
|
March 2011 to date
|
€ 7, 642.31
|
No additional costs are being paid to Constituency Offices by my Department.