Welfare website revamp to cost €570k

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has confirmed the revamp of the new welfare.ie website is costing the State €570,000.

Minister Burton said that US tech giant Hewlett Packard has secured the three-year €569,957 (incl Vat) contract to provide consultancy support for the design, development and implementation of the welfare.ie website.

Ms Burton told Fianna Fáil’s Willie O’Dea in a written Dáil reply that the contract, which commenced last year, includes the ongoing maintenance and support of the website for three years. However, the Fianna Fáil spokesman for Social Protection said yesterday: “Hand on heart, I have yet to meet a person claiming social welfare that has used the website. Nobody I have ever spoken to has used the site.”