Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
2064. Deputy Shane Cassells asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the expenditure incurred in external information technology costs in each year since March 2011, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32291/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department makes extensive use of ICT systems and services to underpin all of its core activities, including areas such as Animal Health and Welfare, Food Safety, Sea Fisheries, Environmental Protection and scheme payments. My Department continues to invest in ICT services to ensure that it has the necessary systems in place to deliver on its wide range of commitments over the coming years.
For instance, since 2015, the Department has introduced over 20 new CAP-related schemes and the vast bulk of these are now processed end-to-end by digital systems. This transformative project has been achieved using a mix of internal staff and external support. Ireland is to the fore in Europe in its delivery of agriculture-related ICT Systems and this is evidenced by our ability to draw down EU CAP funding at a rate that is second only to Finland.
My Department is also currently totally re-developing its GIS Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) to ensure that it can make maximum use of the latest high definition satellite imagery, ortho-photography and technology. In addition, my Department continues to update and improve other critical systems such as the Animal Identification and Movement System (AIM), the Animal Health Control System (AHCS), the Agriculture Field Inspection System (AFIT) and the Integrated Fisheries Information System (iFIS) on a continuous basis.
Table 1 details the expenditure on external ICT services as requested by the Deputy. These figures are made up of ICT External Service Providers/Contractors and Consultancy costs.
Table 1 - External IMT Services Payments (1st March 2011 – July 11th, 2019)
|
PERIOD |
Amount Paid |
|
01/03/2011 – 31/12/2011 |
€9,432,947.30 |
|
2012 |
€9,714,571.61 |
|
2013 |
€9,916,191.90 |
|
2014 |
€13,118,085.21 |
|
2015 |
€16,020,310.01 |
|
2016 |
€17,796,559.58 |
|
2017 |
€22,320,439.79 |
|
2018 |
€26,464,215.66 |
|
01/01/2019 – 11/07/2019 |
€13,062,009.31 |
