Written answers

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Information and Communications Technology Issues

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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614. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is preparing his Department to adapt to and make maximum use of next generation technologies in information and communications to better enhance the interaction of his Department with the citizen and the internal functioning of his Department; if he intends to conduct a risk analysis in respect of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36098/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department provides a range of online services to its customers and partners in the agri-food industry. These services are based on a wide range of modern and efficient IT systems that underpin the Department's critical business processes.

The Department continues to improve its online services and make maximum usage of next generation technologies in information and communications to better enhance its interactions with its customers and partners.

A prime example of the Department's success in adopting new technologies is the Single Payment System (SPS) were a total of 73,340 SPS claims were filed on-line in 2013. This represented circa 56% of all SPS applications for the year and was an increase of over 12% on the 2012 applications. The online SPS system of in-built validations significantly reduces the number of errors that can be made, thereby ultimately leading to speedier payment and reduced form filling for Irish Farmers.

A new mobile website for the Department has been launched which can be accessed at . The new service provides better mobile access to the more popular areas of the Department's website. This service has been designed to work better across a range of modern mobile devices and is automatically linked into the main website when greater detail is required.

The Department has also recently launched a mobile text messaging service which has been used successfully to notify the Department's customers and partners of important deadlines and events. This facility has proved very popular with over 90,000 customers and partners already registered for this new service.

In relation to the utilisation of cloud computing the Department will follow the approach as set out in the Government's Cloud Computing Strategy and will continue to liaise with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with regard to the evolution of this technology and its use by the Department.

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