Mr. Gordon Jeyes:

The Chairman asked about ICT. Tusla is looking at developing a national child care information service which is being piloted in Limerick and the mid-west. That has gone well and the practical wisdom of the front line is influencing the software. It needs to be rolled out faster. Discussions are ongoing, but as members are aware we have to pass certain controls, with deeper ICT control within that. However, to host such a new development as the child care information service Tusla needs more ICT support. We are still completely dependent upon HSE servers, networks and hosting. This is just a fact of life and no amount of investment, not least because of shared premises, will move us from that. The level of service we get is not proportionate to the level of activity that Tusla had when it was part of the HSE, which I sometimes characterise as 5%, but I would say that. It is actually a bit less than 5%, I am rounding up in the interests of children. It has been said to me in writing that in its last year as part of the HSE, Tusla received less than half of 1% of the HSE total ICT service and support and therefore that is what we should expect. Further discussions are happening with the Departments and with the HSE to find a way out of that. It is not just about resourcing. As with the other one or two issues I have raised with the committee today, I cannot do much more about this and it needs to be resolved at an interdepartmental level. Someone needs to make a call on it. They could call it by saying "Mr. Jeyes is wrong" but those issues, as the Deputy has rightly described, have been drawn to his attention a few times. The ICT issue must be resolved. It is not acceptable that less than .05% of the HSE's total ICT service is available to support our 4,000 staff, many of whom are very dependent upon it to carry out their service safely.