Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform does not operate a public helpline intended to answer general queries from the public. The department's press office is open to queries from the public but this is not a helpline. Two other areas within my department have a phone line which can be contacted by members of the public.

• The Open Data unit in my department operates a phone line where members of the public can submit any feedback, questions or comments on use of open data in Ireland. This helpline is available at and calls are not recorded.
• As part of its dedicated service delivery team, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) operates a helpdesk which is accessible through both email and phone to support public bodies and current/potential suppliers of services (including SMEs and micro-enterprises) with any procurement queries that they may have. Any member of the public can ring the OGP helpdesk should they have a procurement query. The helpdesk is available at .

The helpdesk does not record incoming client calls. The OGP conducts rigorous internal training for their helpdesk agents who only handle telephone queries after a 6-month training period. eTenders (www.etenders.gov.ie) is Ireland’s free-to-use national procurement portal. eTenders serves as a central facility for all contracting authorities to electronically advertise public procurement opportunities and award notices. eTenders can be used by any member of the public interested in applying for public contracts or who are currently service providers for public contracts.

While the service contract for eTenders is managed, and the platform is administered, by the OGP, the eTenders portal is provided and operated by a third party service provider as a fully hosted managed service.

As part of the managed service, a public helpline is operated by the third party provider, to assist users with technical queries regarding the portal. This helpline can be contacted by anyone who has an enquiry about the eTenders platform. The helpline is accessible at 0818 001459 (Ireland) or +353 818001459 (International)

For quality assurance purposes, all phone calls received on the helpdesk support line are recorded. Access to recordings are governed by the terms and conditions of the service contract and the relevant data protection regulations.

My department also offers support to civil servants through the Civil Service Employee Assistance Service (CSEAS) which provides an internal Employee Assistance Programme across the Civil Service. The CSEAS is available exclusively to civil servants, who can contact the CSEAS via both phone and email.