Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made within his Department on phasing out the use of LoCall 1890 numbers that can be extremely expensive when dialled from mobile phones and introducing 076 number, which generally included in tariff bundles provided by most mobile network operators and are charged at the same rate as national calls, in view of the fact that the number of mobile phones exceed the number of landlines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14477/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently uses 076 numbers from a block of numbers obtained from Comreg by the Centre for Management and Organisation Management (CMOD) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, for use by public bodies.

These numbers are used for all new requirements which would have traditionally been serviced using “Lo-Call 1890” type numbers. An upgrade of my Department’s telephone technology is being progressed as resources allow and this will facilitate the replacement of the remaining 1890 numbers, which will be migrated to 076 numbering when feasible.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered the use of, or implemented, integrated voice response systems in his Department's phone systems or in the phone systems of agencies within his remit; if the staff and salary cost savings which might arise have been assessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14493/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently uses integrated voice response systems in a limited number of circumstances as appropriate. In the majority of offices calls are handled directly by locally-based staff, or are redirected as appropriate to staff at other locations. Staff are normally assigned to telephony duties on a rota basis, in parallel with their other administrative duties. The ability to handle calls in multiple locations has been a key facilitator of ongoing organisational restructuring of my Department at a Local Office level and has allowed for the re-deployment of staff to higher priority tasks, both within my Department and to other Departments.

As regards the details requested in relation to the agencies that fall under my Department’s remit, this would be an operational matter for the agencies themselves.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has given any consideration to the use of telephony switchboard services that are shared with another Govlernment Department or another public body in order to reduce costs and increase call handling capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14509/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of ICT services to a number of agencies including other Government Departments, non-commercial semi-state bodies, as part of agreed shared service arrangements. Among the telephony-based shared services delivered are the provision of a call centre IT helpdesk for the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) and a helpdesk in relation to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, hosted on behalf of Animal Health Ireland (AHI).

These shared services provided by my Department have delivered significant cost savings and efficiencies for the organisations concerned.