Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 246: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the information technology system linking Institutes of Technology, including its cost; the selection process and its performance to date; her plans to undertake a formal assessment of its performance which has come in for some criticism. [18836/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The system referred to is a computerised management information system known as the MIS project which is a joint project of the 15 institutes of technology. An EU-wide tender process for a standard system across the institutes was undertaken by a consortium board under the direction of the Dublin Institute of Technology. The board included representation from the institutes of technology and my Department. The MIS project involved some 59 installations in the areas of student records, finance, core payroll-human resource, and library. The total cost of the project for the 15 institutes was €45 million.

At present, 58 of the installations have been completed and the remaining project, namely, the student record system in the Cork Institute of Technology, will be completed shortly. As the project was undertaken on a phased basis, I am aware that some institutes are more advanced in managing the new resource. Both the council of directors of the institutes of technology, and the Dublin Institute of Technology, have indicated strong support for the MIS project and no criticism of its performance has been notified to my Department. Indeed, I understand that some universities are now examining what has been achieved with the common MIS platform in the institutes of technology.