Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to harmonise IT systems across Departments to improve compatibility and improve communication; the platform he has considered; and if migration to a cloud computing solution has been considered. [16853/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As with all enterprises, public or private sector, compatibility and communication between disparate systems is generally achieved by the use of recognised industry-standard data formats where available. All guidance reflects to need for public bodies to comply with international standards and to implement industry standards where international ones do not exist. The Programme for Government sets out how we plan to rationalise the usage of ICT and encourage greater sharing of ICT infrastructures, services and resources over time, building on some of the initiatives that have already been implemented for the procurement of ICT hardware, networking, telecommunications, and software licensing and support. Cloud computing is very much to the fore of our thinking. In that regard, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is engaged in research and conducting trials with a number of major international ICT companies to determine what works best for public bodies and to develop compelling commercial models for adoption.