Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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442. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 292 of 10 July 2025, the amount his Department spent on external services from a company (details supplied) to deliver the Digital Contact Centre project. [40562/25]

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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443. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 292 of 10 July 2025, the total budget for the Digital Contact Centre project; if the project was subject to any cost overruns or delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40563/25]

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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444. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount his Department spent on a verification service in the past 12 months (details supplied). [40564/25]

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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445. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to issues with users being unable to verify their documents with a service and being unable to get an adequate response from (details supplied) to resolve the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40565/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 442, 443, 444 and 445 together.

In line with a Programme for Government commitment to significantly enhance the delivery of public services digitally, my Department has introduced a centralised customer service unit, supported by a Digital Customer Service Portal, to offer a modern customer contact centre to immigration applicants. This programme of work also aligns with the current modernisation of immigration services through better use of digital technology and enhanced structures.

The Customer Service Portal is a self-service portal that enables applicants to check their immigration application status, book first-time registration appointments, and submit queries.

Additionally, the platform is equipped with a chatbot offering round-the-clock support to ensure customers have access to assistance whenever needed and it provides the Department’s customer support staff with the tools necessary to efficiently handle queries across multiple communication channels, including portal messages and email.

Following an open procurement exercise, a contract was signed on 15th November 2023 with EY to provide a cloud-based customer service solution, with the project commencing on 30th November 2023.

A robust governance framework was established, with a clear timeline and a planned go-live date of October 2024. Following development, comprehensive user acceptance testing, training, and security validation, the Digital Customer Service Portal, named the 'Digital Contact Centre (DCC)' was successfully deployed on 24th October 2024. The project was on time and on budget. The cost for the delivery of the DCC by EY was €2,059,125 (including VAT), which is in line with the awarded contracted cost.

The contract also includes an identity verification service, ID-Pal, for the purpose of establishing a customer account. ID-Pal verifies in real-time the authenticity of applicants’ identity documents, ensuring that the person is accurately identified. It does not form part of any application assessment.

The total payments relating to ID-Pal over the past 12 months have been €445,873.

Since its launch, over 145,000 customers have registered with the Customer Service Portal and over 111,000 queries have been resolved.

If a person has any issues creating and/or verifying an account on the Customer Service Portal, they should email the support desk at: immigrationportalsupport@justice.ie.

This inbox is handled by officials in the Department, and I can assure the Deputy that queries are resolved as quickly as possible.

If the Deputy is aware of any particular issues with the service or an application, she can contact the Department's Immigration Oireachtas service, IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, who can assist to resolve the matter.

The Department continues to monitor customer experience and is committed to its continuous improvement. The functionality of all our online platforms is under constant review.