Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

561. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if the information technology system in his Department will be upgraded to prevent the issue which occurred with the release of the Tidy Towns results on 25 September 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41425/17]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

562. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if his attention has been drawn to ongoing issues with the Tidy Towns website; and if his attention has been further drawn to the annoyance and confusion that this problem has caused Tidy Towns groups across the country in accessing adjudicators reports and the results for the 2017 competition. [41561/17]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 561 and 562 together.

The Supervalu Tidy Towns competition is now in its 59th year and is a positive and exciting competition for the many communities involved. A very successful National Awards Ceremony took place on Monday, 25^thSeptember 2017, in the Helix Theatre, Dublin, where Birdhill, Co. Tipperary, was declared the overall winner of the competition for 2017.  

I am aware that there were difficulties with accessing information on the Tidy Towns website, www.tidytowns.ie, following the release of the competition results. These issues were of a technical nature and were rectified within 24 hours of the problem coming to light.  My officials also provided a telephone support service while the site was unavailable.

Access to the information on the website is now fully restored. I appreciate that the issue may have caused inconvenience for Tidy Towns committees around the country for a short period.  The technical difficulty which arose has been identified and measure are being taken to prevent a recurrence of the problem in the future.