Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of each service in his Department that is currently outsourced; the company that provides such services and the total cost for these services; the other services which may be outsourced in the future that are currently being run in his Department; the names of the companies, fees paid and nature of service for all contracts awarded from his Department excluding legal, accounting, PR or building refurbishment related services since March 2011 [55828/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department procures a broad spectrum of goods, services and works in support of its role in administering the wider education sector. These goods, services and works are not procured centrally. Rather they are procured by many different business units and, in accordance with national and European Union procurement procedures, the method of procurement varies depending on the value of the contracts in question. My Department does not centrally collate details of all contracts awarded.

The external delivery of services is one of the key areas highlighted in the Government's Public Service Reform Plan published in November 2011. Arising from a Government Decision in July, Departments are required, when evaluating any proposed new service, to include an appraisal of the costs and benefits of delivering the service using external providers. While, to date, no proposal for a new Department service has been considered under this provision, my Department is addressing the issue of external service delivery in the context of other initiatives underway across the Education sector, such as the use of aggregated procurement and shared services.

For the information of the Deputy my Department outsourced the provision of security services for the Marlborough Street complex in June 2011. This service was previously provided by the Office of Public Works. The annual cost of the contract is €273,454.