Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 197: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the first tier of a project put into operation by his Department reflects a true and accurate picture of a person's insurance contribution history; if correct and accurate decisions on pensions will be made on this basis; if applicants can be confident of a true and accurate decision when applying for a pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31064/05]

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 198: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a company (details supplied) has met its target indicators in regard to work with his Department; the payment made to the firm to date; and if his Departmental staff are in a position to maintain the system after implementation. [31065/05]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 199: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the function and condition of employment of two consultancy firms (details supplied) working with his Department; the extent of payment made to each of these firms to date in 2005; their schedule of work targets; if they are in a position to meet these targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31066/05]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on the fact that the contributions history which was the first tier of SDM phase two project has been put into operation without the full promised functionality and cannot be used by his Department's EU records or CES sections; if he has satisfied himself with this position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31067/05]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the pensions system promised for 2006 will be delivered on time and if it will speed up the processing of claims; if the system will be more efficient than the current pen live system used by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31068/05]

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria used in appointing consultants (details supplied) to phase two of a project to his Department; if their involvement in phase one SDM of a project influenced the decision to appoint them; if his attention has been drawn to the appointment of this firm to a further Government contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31069/05]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the start up date of the service delivery modernisation within his Department; the cost to date in 2005 of this project; if the project is on schedule; when the next phase will be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31070/05]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 to 203, inclusive, together.

My Department is highly dependent on information and communications technology to support schemes, produce payments and deliver a pro-active service to customers. By the late 1990s, it was clear that our technology and processes were becoming obsolete and that a radical programme of change and development was required to meet new and ongoing needs of the Department.

In July 2000, the Government approved proposals by the Department for the service delivery modernisation, SDM, programme. The SDM is a multi-annual programme of work involving the introduction of new technology and the replacement of legacy computer systems. It also involves the redesign of back office systems, business processes, procedures and work practices and the introduction of new organisational structures. The programme, which comprises business, organisation and technical streams, is designed to be implemented in self-contained phases. Each phase delivers key business benefits, extends the business object model chosen by the Department and strengthens and enhances the underlying technical architecture.

The first phase of SDM, which focused on the child benefit scheme, commenced in February 2001 and was successfully implemented in November 2002. The current phase commenced on 31 May 2004 and covers the extension of the SDM programme to retirement pension, old age contributory pension, related household benefits and bereavement grants. Each phase of the programme has two main strands: technical, which involves the development and refinement of the information technology infrastructure to provide the foundation for a radically improved and modernised system of service delivery for all social welfare schemes; and business reorganisation, which involves a parallel programme of organisational change to take advantage of the new technology and information and communication technology, ICT, systems and to deliver efficiencies in business processes and maximize customer service.

As part of the current phase of the SDM programme, a contribution history object, CHO, is being developed on a phased basis. The first phase of the CHO, which facilitates the electronic consolidation of a customer's full insurance record, was implemented in October 2005. This development provides for a new interface to the post-1979 contributions data, currently stored on the Departments central records system, CRS, and for the capture of pre-1979 insurance histories which were previously only available on microfiche. The next phase of the CHO, which will incorporate EU records and client eligibility services, will be implemented early in November 2005.

The contributions history, once collated, will provide a comprehensive and accurate view of the customer's insurance record. This will facilitate quick and easy access for sections across the Department to customers records. The CHO will enhance the role of deciding officers, who are statutorily appointed to make decisions on a person's entitlement to a social welfare payment, by providing them with speedier access to comprehensive more accurate insurance records.

The Department has in place well tried procurement structures and procedures which fully comply with EU public procurement regulations. All consultancy contracts for SDM were carried out in strict compliance with these regulations. Consultants for the technical project were appointed following an open procurement competition. The criteria used in evaluating responses to the request for tenders, RFT, were published in the RFT. The appointment was made following a full evaluation of the tenders received having regard to the award criteria. The same consultancy company was also awarded a contract in 2002 to define a software change management, SCM, process for the Department following an open tender competition.

In awarding contracts the Department does not take account of contracts previously carried out by the tendering company, whether for this Department or any other body. Contracts are awarded on the merits of the tender and the extent to which they meet the criteria set out in the RFT. The Department establishes a relationship solely with the successful company, which is then responsible for the delivery of all services provided under the terms of the contract. All duties and responsibilities associated with the contract, including the quality and timeliness of the work, lies with the prime contractor. This includes responsibility for the work of sub-contractors brought in by them.

The Department has contracted with a company to deliver the technical stream of the current phase of SDM. This company has sub-contracted two other companies to deliver some elements of the contract. All payments due under this contract are made to the prime contractor and the Department is not party to business arrangements or payments made by the prime contractor to the sub-contractors. One of the sub-contracting companies was responsible for developing the underlying architectural approach being adopted by the SDM. For this reason, the Department separately engaged this company to provide direct quality assurance and general business object modelling advice. A total of €6,000 has been paid for these services in 2005. No payments have been made by the Department to the second named sub-contractor.

The SDM programme involves the introduction of new systems development approaches, new methodologies and technologies which give rise to a need for new skill sets. A key element of each phase of SDM is a programme of skills transfer from the consultants to our staff so as to lead to a build up of skills over time. The current phase of SDM includes a skills transfer programme encompassing training, education and involvement in critical design aspects of the project leading to the build up of skills and experience of the new approaches and technology. It is expected that all requisite skills will be acquired over the course of the programme. It was never expected that the Department would be self sufficient in terms of its ability to maintain all aspects of the system after implementation of the project. Indeed, given the range of skills required, it would not be practical to try to acquire all these skills and to retain them in-house. Consequently, there will always be a need for some external support.

The current phase of the SDM programme encompasses the contributory and retirement pension schemes and is scheduled for implementation at the end of March 2006. The new system will facilitate the proactive initiation of pension claims, make it easier for customers to transact their business with the Department and will provide additional support for staff in carrying out their duties. I am satisfied, however, that Department staff are gaining critical experience, education and learning opportunities in this phase of the project which will contribute to their ability to manage, control and lead future phases of the SDM programme.

During 2005 the Department incurred expenditure with regard to software development consultancy, purchase of computer hardware and software, organisational change consultancy and staff salary costs on the SDM programme. To date these costs for 2005 are €3,411,227.54.

The service delivery modernisation programme is a major undertaking which aims to introduce modern ICT systems and work practices to allow the Department to respond more rapidly to strategic changes and to deliver a high quality, pro-active personalised and integrated service to its customers. I am satisfied that the new system will deliver tangible benefits for customers and will be more efficient both in terms of accuracy and time taken to deal with the processing of claims.