Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 805: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the budget available to her Department for IT expenditure in 2010 and 2011; the provisions within her Department for the purchasing of IT equipment; the efforts that are being undertaken to ensure value for money and cost reductions in this regard; if there are budgets and procedures in place for the purchasing of IT equipment for each State agency under her remit for 2010 and 2011; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23440/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy might wish to note that my Department was formally established on 2 June, 2011. The funding provisions made available this year under Subhead A5 (Office Equipment and External IT Services) of the Vote to support the purchase of IT equipment, as contained in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2011, amounts to €120,000. This includes a current provision of €92,000 and a capital allocation of €28,000.

The ICT Unit within the Department of Health provides a shared service to my Department in relation to IT matters. In this regard the Department of Finance Circulars 2/09 and 2/11 relating to the arrangements for ICT expenditure in the Civil and Public Service requires all Departments and Offices that spend monies from Voted Funds on ICT expenditure to comply with the Department of Finance circulars, advisories and best practice guidance relating to ICT expenditure. These arrangements are designed to reduce risk and achieve better value for money in terms of quality, level of service and price paid.

The bodies and agencies that currently fall within the operational remit of my Department include the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, the National Education Welfare Board and the Family Support Agency. These have been requested to contact the Deputy directly in relation to the internal arrangements that apply within their organisations.