Ms Karen Murtagh:

I will take some of the headings and my colleague, Ms Rita Sexton will take some of the other ones. I will talk about the infrastructure, as there were many questions on infrastructure, broadband and technical support. The Department is aware there are different levels of broadband in schools, ranging from 1 Mbps right up to 100 Mbps in primary schools. By the end of June no schools will remain on satellite connections; they are moving on to other connections. We will be collaborating with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to introduce a scheme similar to the 100 Mbps in post-primary schools. The needs at primary schools are quite different from the one or two teacher schools right up to schools with a few hundred students. We need to look at that and see if a funding package is achievable between the two Departments. It is a priority under the new digital strategy for schools.

We have looked at a centralised model for technical support. It is not viable owing to the differing sizes of schools in the country. A clustering model where we cluster schools of the same size and needs into small clusters with a view to purchasing technical support can work for those schools. The centralised model is also prohibitive in funding terms. Having identified the schools' needs, we will be doing the technical support in conjunction with the education partners.

Senator Craughwell mentioned centralised procurement. Frameworks have been put in place by what is now the Office of Government Procurement for desktops, laptops and printers, and the PDST TIE has frameworks in place for the purchase of digital projectors. We are working with the OGP to renew those frameworks. They will go out again nearer the end of the year to refresh those frameworks for supply of computers and printers. The Department will be represented to ensure the computers suitable for schools will be on those frameworks.

On funding, the digital strategy has not been signed off yet. It still needs to go to Government and to the Minister. Until it is signed off by the Government we cannot discuss funding on that because that is all agreed then. We are looking to move forward to multiannual funding over the five-year lifetime of the strategy. We are aware that there has not been funding since 2010 for all schools, primary and post-primary, for infrastructure. There is a huge need for schools to purchase equipment. We will be looking at funding for that.

Some members asked about students using technology outside school. As part of the digital strategy we held workshops with primary and post-primary students. While we found that many students power down when they go into school and power up when they go out, much of the time they spend on IT outside school relates to social media. The student workshops were very informative. They had great ideas on the use of ICT within the classroom. We found that the use of ICT in primary schools was more prevalent than in post-primary schools. In post-primary schools it is more focused on doing the exam etc. However, as mentioned by the representatives of INTO and IPPN, it depends on the school and whether someone in the school is pushing ICT.

I will hand over to Ms Sexton to respond.