135. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total cost to date of the DION IT system, including all design, development, consultancy, implementation and ongoing support costs, broken down by year since inception, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44409/26]

136. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the initial projected cost at the time of approval of the DION IT system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44410/26]

137. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide the original business case and timeline for delivery of the DION system; the number of years the system has been in development; the key milestones set at inception; the extent to which those milestones have been met or delayed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44411/26]

139. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of external consultants engaged in the development, troubleshooting and ongoing operation of the DION system; the total cost of such consultancy; the specific roles performed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44413/26]

146. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeline for full rollout of the DION system; the date from which all CALF applications will be required to be processed exclusively through DION; whether contingency arrangements exist in the event of continued system issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44531/26]

148. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the engagement undertaken with approved housing bodies and other social housing providers in relation to the operation of the DION system; the number of complaints or formal representations received; the actions taken in response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44533/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 135, 136, 137, 139, 146 and 148 together.

This very significant strategic digital transformation project will take a number of years to fully implement. Preliminary work has been ongoing on this project since 2017 with the development of the Business Case. PwC consultants assisted in the development of that Business Case as well as the review of standardised processes and €508,483 (including VAT) was paid to PwC over the period 2019 to 2021.

The procurement stage for the project was subsequently completed in 2023. Since then, the project has been in the implementation stage, which involves the development and roll-out of the system, on a phased basis, over a number of years.

Following the signing of the contract, development of the system began in March 2023 with an anticipated completion date of March 2028. Milestones within the contract are on a phased basis and include analysis, design, build, training, testing, data migration and go live. Some variances have occurred to anticipated timelines and the project remains on target to meet its 2028 completion timeline.

The total value of the Project Díon contract, signed in March 2023, is €10,549,041 (including VAT) over five years. The project expenditure to the end of April 2026 is €4,620,930 (including VAT) as outlined in the table below.

In accordance with the contract, a team of personnel have been assigned to work on the project and these include a Programme Manager, Project Manager, Enterprise Architect, Solution Architects (4), Change Management Lead, Senior and other Business Analysts (3) and a Test Lead. Their assignment is necessitated by work on the various stages of the project. In addition, a separate team are in place to provide ongoing support dealing with any operational, maintenance and system issues that arise in the post implementation phases. This team includes a Support Team Lead and Support Resource members (7).

CALF programmes are currently under review and these are anticipated to go live in one of the upcoming phases.

Oversight of Project Díon involves regular review by a Project Board (comprised of internal and external stakeholders) as well as an independent Peer Review group appointed in compliance with D/PER Circular 14/2021 (Arrangements for Oversight of Digital and ICT-related Initiatives in the Civil and Public Service). The Project Board also reports to the Department's Management Board.

Engagement with both internal and external stakeholders including approved housing bodies have involved in-person roadshows, analysis and development workshops, one-to-one training and familiarisation sessions, along with continued and post go live communication and support. No complaints or formal representations have been received.