Police ombudsman’s new €4m IT system abandoned shortly after contract signed, Fiosrú says

A new IT system for the office of the police ombudsman, Fiosrú, that was originally expected to cost €4.3m four years ago could end up costing more than €12 million.

In a letter to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, Fiosrú said its predecessor body – the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) – had signed a contract in April 2024 for a new case-management system (CMS) and paid more than €500,000.

But within a few months, the vendor stood down following what was described as “misaligned expectations”.

Fiosrú said it decided earlier this year an off-the-shelf, cloud-based CMS with modest configuration was the optimum way forward, taking into account Government policy.

It said a business case was subsequently approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and the Digital Governance Oversight Unit of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.

“A pre-qualification questionnaire has been issued and is currently live. The value of the framework is up to €12.5 million for development, deployment, support and enhancements over a 10-year-period. This includes a business case spend for five years of between €4.774 million and €6.902 million,” the Fiosrú letter to the Public Accounts Committee states.

Fiosrú said the CMS project was essential for the independent policing oversight body to be able to discharge its statutory functions effectively under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 and, as a result, was “a key strategic priority”.

It said GSOC, in preparation for its transformation to Fiosrú, began extensive project planning in 2022 to replace its CMS, which had been introduced in 2008 and had reached the end of its life.

A business case for a new system that would cost €4.395 million was approved by the Department of Public Expenditure in December 2022.

“Procurement for the CMS was initiated in 2023 and completed in 2024, with contracts signed in April 2024. A 20 per cent payment was made on commencement of the contract as per the payment schedule, as advertised.”

The value of the contract was €3.499 million and the initial 20 per cent payment amounted to €525,904.21.

“Early engagement between the Project Team and the vendor identified misalignment of expectations. In addition, the GSOC chair of the CMS project board left the organisation in June 2024.

“In September 2024, with the appointment of the Fiosrú CEO designate, a full review of the CMS project was undertaken, which identified a number of challenges. The vendor was engaged in this exercise. On 27 September 2024, the vendor wrote to GSOC stating that they were standing down their team until further notice,” the letter to the Public Accounts Committee states.

A new business case for the project was drawn up in 2025 that suggested the cost could reach just under €10 million. However, the letter says this was not supported as the Department of Justice had “had considerable concerns regarding the capacity of the vendor to effectively deliver”.

The letter said a limited interim IT case management system had been operational since April 2025. It had cost about €339,000.