Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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192. To ask the Taoiseach the steps taken by his Department to support the implementation of the national remote work strategy Making Remote Work; the approximate number or percentage of staff within his Department who have access to cloud services for remote videoconferencing and the capacity to work remotely; his plans to increase this percentage; and the framework under which procurement for this is managed. [45359/21]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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193. To ask the Taoiseach the steps taken by agencies under the remit of his Department to support the implementation of the national remote work strategy Making Remote Work; the approximate number or percentage of staff within these agencies who have access to cloud services for remote videoconferencing and the capacity to work remotely; if there are plans to increase this percentage; and the framework under which procurement for this is managed. [45360/21]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together.

Like all Government Departments and Offices, my Department and the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), the only body under the aegis of my Department, are currently working in line with Government COVID-19 guidance, which provides for a gradual return to the office for staff from the 20th September having regard to individual operational arrangements. A significant proportion of staff have been working from home in full or on a part-time basis since March 2020, and such staff have secure access to the Department’s systems to allow them to work remotely. Access to all standard corporate ICT services is provided including video collaboration and conferencing tools. All equipment and services are procured in line with government procurement guidelines and utilise Office of Government Procurement Frameworks where possible. In line with the rest of the Civil Service, the Department will finalise and progressively roll-out its blended working policy for the longer-term which will be guided by the Central Policy Framework for Blended Working in the Civil Service currently being finalised by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.