Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of his telecommunications services in 2012 budget. [36778/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department has an allocation of €740,000 in respect of telecommunications services in 2012. This allocation covers the cost of all telecommunications services including fixed voice lines, mobile 'phones, telephonists. telephone hardware and maintenance. For the Deputy's information, a new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony system was rolled out across my Department's three main offices in Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore, earlier this year. The VoIP system facilitates the routing of landline voice calls over the Department's existing data network, realising significant savings in telecommunications costs. Upon completion of the roll-out of VoIP to my Department's regional and local offices, it is estimated that approximately €250,000 will be saved per annum.