Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

265. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will publish in full all correspondence between the Arts Council and his Department in relation to the IT project and its problems since it received sign-off from the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in 2019. [8746/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In July 2024, the Secretary General of the Department initiated an examination of the Arts Councils ICT project. The examination was undertaken by the Department and completed on 6 February 2025. The Minister published the Report on the Examination of the Arts Council Business Transformation Project on 12 February. It makes a number of key findings and 36 recommendations which will be implemented by the Department and the Arts Council and is available on the Departments website.

The Department carried out this examination between August and December 2024 under Terms of Reference approved by the Secretary General. The Terms of Reference covered the examination of all phases of the project to date, including, system requirements and development; procurement, governance and compliance with relevant public policy directives. The Department reviewed extensive documentation on the project provided by the Arts Council, as well as documentation provided by the business unit in the Department on its role in the project. This includes a large volume of correspondence over the lifespan of the project from 2018 to 2024.

In that context, if the Deputy would like access to any particular correspondence in relation to the IT project, I would encourage him to contact my Department where my officials can provide these documents within the parameters of the Freedom of Information Act.