Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 331: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her internal auditors are satisfied with the procurement process used in the purchase of a consultancy service (details supplied); if the process used conforms with the Department of Finance guidelines. [33415/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department conducts a detailed programme of audits across its range of activities and programmes. The programme is drawn up annually on the basis of a range of criteria including the level of expenditure and the related risk assessment. My Department has also had an IT audit function in place since 2001, which focuses exclusively on the IT function. The specific subscription service referred to by the Deputy has not been the subject of internal audit review to date.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 332: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if value for money has been achieved by her Department in its purchase of a consultancy service (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33424/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has been engaged in delivering an unprecedented programme of ICT transformation. As part of this transformation, it has delivered large-scale ICT systems that are extremely successful and deliver excellent value to the Department, its customers and its stakeholders.

Access to the best international research and advice is a critical component in the successful management of such a large-scale programme. My Department has found the services provided by the company in this area to be of value in the context of the overall IT programme.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 333: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if any of her officials have attended as VIP guests at a conference organised by a company (details supplied); the locations, dates and costs involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33433/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a range of large operational activities that depend critically on information and communications technology, ICT. This is an integral part of our service delivery and provides the level of operational efficiency, customer service and control appropriate to management of schemes worth some €3 billion. In this context it is important the ICT management keep fully abreast of developments in the sector and international best practice.

The organisation concerned runs two European conferences each year addressed by world leaders in the field, and which many of their analysts attend. These conferences are held in Barcelona and Cannes. Registration for one person at each conference is provided as part of membership of this company's executive programme and the only cost arising is economy travel, hotel and standard subsistence. Since autumn 2003 one member of my Department has attended these conferences, except for spring 2005.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 334: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her knowledge of a consultancy service (details supplied); the number of officials of her Department who are members of this particular programme; the basis on which the decision was taken to subscribe at this level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33442/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department subscribes to the services of the company to which the Deputy refers, which is a globally recognised provider of research and business intelligence in the area of ICT. It is not associated with any software or hardware vendor, and the advice of the company is regarded as totally independent. This is of significant value since it is hard to get truly independent, unbiased information. The company referred to has an extensive team of top class analysts spread across the world. It has a significant bank of research in place to which many new research papers are added each month.

The company also gives significant strategic information on how leading organisations worldwide are using IT to best advantage for service delivery. My Department has a range of large operational activities that depend critically on ICT. This is an integral part of our service delivery and provides the level of operational efficiency, customer service and control appropriate to management of schemes worth some €3 billion. It is important the ICT management keeps fully abreast of developments in the sector and international best practice and for this reason, my Department decided to subscribe to the services provided by the company's executive programme. This programme is aimed at providing a service best suited to large-scale users of ICT.

The programme to which my Department subscribes provides unlimited access for all of the Department's IT managers to the research material and a wide network of researchers and analysts.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 335: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of competing companies considered in her Department's assessment before a company (details supplied) was granted a programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33451/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Although several companies offer research and advisory services, the company in question has a worldwide reputation as the leading independent adviser in the industry. It is a globally recognised provider of research and business intelligence in the area of ICT. It is not associated with any software or hardware vendor, and its advice is regarded as totally independent. The company referred to provides a subscription service based on its own continuous research programme carried out by a team of analysts spread across the world. This includes a combination of research covering current and future technology in general, suppliers and their strategies and also reports on how ICT has been deployed in various industry sectors, including the public sector, worldwide.

It supplements this research by offering a programme of direct support to senior ICT management. This service provides strong quality assurance for my Department's overall ICT strategy as well as advice on specific projects and technologies.