Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 516: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which he sees cloud computing become of major commercial impact; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24212/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Cloud computing has the potential to revolutionise the IT investment model in Ireland and elsewhere. It allows companies to use the internet to efficiently access vast amounts of computing resources that would otherwise be beyond their reach. A recent report undertaken by A&L Goodbody and commissioned by Microsoft has suggested that Cloud Computing sales by Irish firms could be worth €9.5 billion per annum by 2014 and provide for 8,600 jobs as business migrates to the Cloud.

The Programme for Government commits to a range of initiatives aimed at making Ireland a leader in the emerging I.T. market of cloud computing. My colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, T.D., has established a group to implement this commitment on Cloud Computing. The group, on which my Department is represented, has been tasked with addressing all aspects of cloud computing, including expenditure, IT, procurement, security, infrastructure, and industrial strategy. I understand that the group will complete its work before the end of the year.