Public Procurement Contracts
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Cian O'Callaghan (SD), Dublin Bay North

I thank the Minister of State for the answer. Have alternatives to Microsoft actually been looked at as part of the process? That is what I am asking about it. There are a number of alternatives out there that other European countries and states are moving towards. They are doing so for value-for-money reasons and so they are no longer technologically dependent on the US but can rely on European-regulated services and products. There is LibreOffice, Collabora Online, Open-Xchange, Nextcloud, Thunderbird and openDesk by Germany's Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität der Öffentlichen Verwaltung, ZenDiS, which is a readily assembled government-grade suite. Have any of these been looked at? Are alternatives being examined? They are going for alternatives in other European countries, not just so they are no longer beholden to Trump and what he does - he does not just interfere in terms of red cards but in other areas as well - but also because it is better value for money. They are achieving actual reductions in the cost. Are alternatives being looked at and if so, what alternatives? If not, why has that not been part of the process?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-07