Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 March 2013
227. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has given any consideration to the use of telephony switchboard services that are shared with another Department or another public body in order to reduce costs and increase call handling capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14509/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department provides a range of ICT services to a number of agencies including other Government Departments, non-commercial semi-state bodies, as part of agreed shared service arrangements. Among the telephony-based shared services delivered are the provision of a call centre IT helpdesk for the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) and a helpdesk in relation to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, hosted on behalf of Animal Health Ireland (AHI).
These shared services provided by my Department have delivered significant cost savings and efficiencies for the organisations concerned.
