Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 237 of 4 December 2012, if he will provide a list of all new services across his Department that have been tested for external service delivery since March 2011. [55432/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Since March 2011, my Department has introduced the Certificate of Irish Heritage scheme. Having considered the technology and marketing expertise required to underpin the successful operation of the Certificate of Irish Heritage internationally, the Department decided to implement the service as a concession. This concession was awarded to FEXCO following a public tender published in April, 2010.

Under the terms of a concession agreement dated 26 May, 2011, the programme is operated on behalf of my Department by FEXCO on a cost-neutral basis to the Department. The Agreement provides that FEXCO develop the web systems and necessary software and also process applications, issue certificates and be the initial point of contact for all customer enquiries. The initial one year contract was renewed earlier this year for a second year.

The possibility of providing new services on a similar basis will be kept under review.