Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason the State missed a deadline for an upgrade to IT systems across Government Departments resulting in an additional cost of €3.3 million being incurred; the way a recurrence can be prevented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9708/14]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to ask the Minister why the State missed a deadline on 8 April 2014 for an upgrade to IT systems across a number of Departments, resulting in an additional cost of €3.3 million being paid to Microsoft, and if he will comment.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The deadline referred to in the Deputy's question relates to the cessation of general support for certain Microsoft products in use across a number of Government agencies. My Department has been aware of the forthcoming deadline for some time and has been actively investigating its likely impact on IT systems across the public service.

Responsibility for the delivery of their computing services rests with each organisation.

My Department offers support services only.

With regard to the products in question, organisations have the option of upgrading to a more modern version or finding alternative solutions. Many have already done so by upgrading the systems concerned. These include my Department and the Departments of Finance, Environment, Community and Local Government, Education and Skills and Social Protection.

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has engaged with other public bodies and Microsoft regarding the implications of running unsupported software. The discussions focused on the remedial measures that could be put in place and identifying those organisations that wished to be included in an extended support arrangement. As a result, an agreement has been reached with Microsoft to allow Departments and their agencies to avail of extended support for a range of products from 8 April 2014. The agreement will enable public bodies to receive support for these products for a 12 month period under the terms of a memorandum of understanding. The figure of €3.3 million represents a cap on the total cost of such support arrangements for agencies availing of the memorandum of understanding. Initial estimates obtained by my Department put the cost of proceeding with extended support without a central agreement at approximately €14 million.

It is a matter for each agency to avail of the support available under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, which provides them with a one year window of opportunity for migrating their applications and hardware to a more modern and supported operating system. Any agency availing of this agreement must develop a plan to migrate from the affected products before the expiration of the agreement to ensure they will no longer be at risk.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister explain what will happen in April 2014 when the cut-off arrangements will apply? What will be the cost to various Departments of winding down the Windows XP operating system, for which support will be eliminated in the coming 12 months? I understand some of the Departments will move to the Windows 8 operating system. Will the Minister confirm that the process will not result in a risk for customers in respect of the records held in the Department of Health and the Department of Justice and Equality? These are sensitive areas and it would be highly unfortunate if any of this information were to be leaked. We all remember what occurred when information technology glitches occurred in Ulster Bank and elsewhere. Is it possible such problems could arise in this process?

I understand the issue was dealt with long before the deadline in the case of approximately 90% of the computers where the problem was identified. Why have so many computers in the public service been affected by the problem, which will cost €3.8 million to correct? How many computers or laptops will require the patch in the next 12 months?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I am afraid I am not what is known as a techie and the Deputy's question forces me to stray into unfamiliar territory. The advice available to me is that public and private organisations throughout the world are facing exactly the same issue. The reason for the delay is that people liked the Windows XP operating system and many chose not to migrate to the updated system because they considered it to be less user-friendly. This was the case in my Department and, as I indicated, we updated our system more recently.

Supports are available and all agencies can buy into them to ensure security in the next 12 months, and they must have a plan to migrate to an equally secure system thereafter. This means they must update their systems in the next 12 months. We secured a good deal on the €3.8 million cost ceiling to be expended by Microsoft. The process is designed to ensure all agencies can buy into it.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I do not consider it a good deal when one must spend money because a deadline was missed. The Minister may argue that the position could have been much worse but the problem should not have occurred in the first instance. There should have been proper planning. What role will the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer have in ensuring agencies do not run up against a brick wall? Given the Minister's acknowledgement that various Departments and agencies must migrate to a new operating system within 12 months, what will be the overall cost? Is the chief information officer fully equipped to ensure similar deadlines will not apply to other operating systems being used in the public service? I have only highlighted one such deadline. Will the Minister provide a guarantee that no other such problems arise in the public service?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As I indicated, my Department does not run the information technology systems operating in all the Departments and State agencies. This is done by in-house administrative services. My Department provides a support system. I established the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. All public bodies have been made aware of the deadline and have been working to limit any exposure in advance of the April 2014 deadline. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has engaged with the agencies which have sought its support and assistance and has engaged with Microsoft to ensure all agencies experience as little risk as possible. Departments and agencies have a choice of either signing up to the memorandum of understanding or upgrading their systems in advance of the deadline. My Department and others have decided to upgrade in advance of the date, while others will avail of the memorandum of understanding and determine in the next year what is the most appropriate system for them.