Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I am intrigued by this response, which raises questions. When representatives of the shared services unit appeared before the committee, they made a point of saying it would not be appropriate for every part of the public service to have its payroll go through the shared services unit. The HSE and the Department of Education have large staff complements. The Department of Education has 130,000 payees. I am intrigued as to what is the problem. In the last paragraph, there is mention of a "viable technical solution". What is the solution? We need to revert to the Department with some questions. What is the solution it is seeking? Does the solution involve outsourcing to a contractor? Was it included in the original tender? If a company issues a contract for a payroll system, I would expect that payroll system to work and if there are glitches or problems with it, that the obligation would be on the contractor to resolve them. A number of issues arise. If a lot of money is spent on a system, that system should be fit for purpose.