Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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634. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is preparing her Department to adapt to and make maximum use of next generation technologies in information and communications to better enhance the interaction of her Department with the citizen and the internal functioning of her Department; if she intends to conduct a risk analysis in respect of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36100/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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ICT services for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and associated agencies; the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the Family Support Agency, are provided by the Department of Health on a shared-services basis.

The approach of my Department has been to utilise appropriate technologies to provide modern and efficient support for the Department's business needs and demands. That will continue to be the case as new technologies come into play.

A key consideration in the application of any technology, existing or new, to a business process is security - data security, access security and device security - and this will continue to be the case. Analysing risk is a fundamental component of a comprehensive security implementation.

Additionally my Department will liaise with the recently appointed Government Chief Information Officer in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, who is currently assessing what is required to build on progress in ensuring that ICT-enabled change is delivered across the Public Service.