Written answers

Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Department of Justice and Equality

Information and Communications Technology

Photo of Mairéad FarrellMairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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219. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide the list of capital projects for IT services, by his Department or bodies under its aegis, which had contracts valued in excess of €1 million and which failed to reach completion; the value that was written off, for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30931/25]

Photo of Mairéad FarrellMairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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220. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide, the list of capital projects, by his Department or bodies under its aegis, which had contracts valued in excess of €5 million and which ran over cost in 2023, along with a description of the contract, the initial price and final price provided, in tabular form. [30937/25]

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 219 and 220 together.

Neither my Department nor the bodies under its aegis have any capital projects valued in excess of €5 million and ran over cost in 2023.

Neither are there any such IT capital projects to report valued over €1 million and written off in the years 2022, 2023 or 2024.

I am informed that it has not been possible for An Garda Síochána to collate the requested information in the allocated timeframe. I will forward this information directly to the Deputy upon receipt.

My Department currently manages a portfolio of strategic projects and programmes within Vote 24 to modernise manual processes and legacy systems fulfilling our obligations under the National Development Plan; Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework; and the EU’s Digital Compass to deliver 90% of our services online by 2030 and to build effective and customer focussed systems.

A dedicated Project, Programme and Portfolio Oversight Committee is in place to oversee governance of this work. The Committee is chaired by a member of my Department's Management Board and includes two external members in addition to a number of senior officials from across the Department. In the case of all major projects, a business case is submitted to the Committee. Such business cases are assessed under a range of criteria, including feasibility, alignment with strategy and existing infrastructure, the benefits to be accrued, and value for money.

The Committee also keeps existing projects and programmes under review to make sure they are delivering the expected outcomes, and are within the agreed budget, time and scope. Projects costing in excess of €2m are subject to an external and independent peer review group which provides quarterly assurance reports to the Oversight Committee. This in turn reports to the Management Board.

This structured governance approach ensures information on the progress of all projects is constantly reviewed and there are opportunities for escalation where any issues arise. If any change is proposed to the scope, timeframe or budget of a project, this is considered in the same manner as a new business case, and further expenditure authorised following approval by the Project, Programme and Portfolio Oversight Committee (and if relevant a project, steering or programme board).

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