Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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78. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the breakdown of the funding allocation for his Department for 2021, by project. [35517/20]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of capital investment projects undertaken by my Department, including the Offices of Government Procurement (OGP) and the Chief Government Information Officer (OGCIO), is to deliver greater effectiveness and efficiency across the Civil and Public Service, in the context of initiatives set out in reform plans such as Our Public Service 2020 and the Public Service ICT Strategy. As the Deputy may be aware, my Department is finalising the amounts required for the 2021 Revised Estimates that will be published shortly.

For the Deputy's information, Vote 11 (DPER) will have two small capital investment projects in 2021 to develop a new modern case management system for the Civil Service Chief Medical Officer and to fit out training and development class rooms for the delivery of courses procured centrally by the Department's One Learning division for the whole of the Civil Service. Its current lease at Technical University, Dublin at Mountjoy Square ceases at the end of this year. This is a key element of the Civil Service Renew Plan, as its whole of Civil Service system and training delivery service provides a common platform for staff to access all of their learning and development requirements.

The OGCIO (Vote 43) takes the lead on driving forward the implementation of the Public Service ICT Strategy, working with Departments and agencies across the Public Service. Capital investment in 2021 will be allocated to the five strategic themes of the strategy which are Build to Share, Digital First, Data as an Enabler, Improve Governance, and Increase Capability. For instance, under the Build to Share pillar of the Strategy, the OGCIO continues to enhance the Government Network that has been in existence for many years. As a result of this investment, the Network will operate at higher speeds, providing high capacity services to the wider Public Service. The enhanced network will support agencies in the rollout of new applications, new ways of working and engaging with the citizen.

In 2021, Vote 39 (Office of Government Procurement) will invest in its IT systems to deliver on its mandate to drive procurement savings to the State. The two IT projects in which the OGP is continuing to invest are the eTenders platform to support national and EU procurement requirements and a CRM / Workflow Management System is also being implemented to support OGP’s Customer Service function and sourcing activities of the OGP and its sector partners.

In terms of my Department more generally, the Deputy may wish to note that extensive information about its role and the many projects with which it is involved is set out in its Annual Report for 2019, which is available at the following link: