Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

305. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount spent on purchasing mobile telephones for staff in his Department for work-related business in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019, by grade; if his Department has a contract with a mobile telephone company (details supplied) to supply mobile telephones if needed; if so, the name of the company; the date on which the contract for the supply of mobile telephones to his Department is next due to expire; and the robust steps taken to ensure that the costs incurred on work related telephones are the best value for the taxpayer. [47927/19]

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

My Department was established in July 2017.

In 2018, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, a division of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, assumed responsibility for the provision of my Department's ICT managed services.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform currently has a contract in place with Three Ireland for the supply of Mobile Phone Services & Handsets, which was awarded on foot of a public procurement competition. This contract, which also covers such services to my Department, is due to expire in April 2020. In general, mobile phones are currently procured using the Three Ireland contract, with certain handsets provided free of charge as part of the contract.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is currently undertaking a market exercise in relation to a successor contract, run under the Office of Government Procurement’s Mobile Phone Framework. The public procurement process undertaken in this regard will ensure that best possible value for money is achieved.

The following Table details the total expenditure incurred by my Department in relation to mobile phones handsets over the period specified by the Deputy.