OPW Ends Starlink Contracts – Irish Alternative Available
Starlink Services Utilised by irish Government Departments Amidst Outage Concerns
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Dublin, Ireland – Several Irish government departments and agencies are utilising Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for their telecommunications needs. The revelation comes as Starlink recently experienced a significant international outage, impacting tens of thousands of users.
Government Departments Confirm starlink Contracts
Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal donohoe, confirmed that the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, along with the Office of Public Works (OPW), have procured Starlink services. These services were reportedly “procured in line with public procurement procedures.”
Mr Donohoe was responding to a series of parliamentary questions posed by Fine Gael TD for Longford-Westmeath,Micheál Carrigy. Mr Carrigy had inquired with various ministers about their departments or any agencies under their purview holding contracts with Starlink.
The Revenue Commissioners disclosed that they have spent €93,237 on Starlink as 2023. They highlighted the service’s widespread use as a “cost-effective marine data provider across the marine industry internationally” and stated they have “no issues or concerns” regarding the current services provided.
Justice Sector Adopts Starlink
Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, confirmed that both An Garda Síochána (the Irish police force) and the Irish Prison Service have also procured Starlink satellite services to support their telecommunications requirements. A spokesperson for the prison service declined to comment on operational or security matters.
Starlink Faces international Outage
The news of government adoption comes shortly after mr Musk was compelled to issue an apology following a major international outage that disrupted Starlink services for tens of thousands of users. Mr Musk acknowledged the issue on X,the social media platform he also owns,stating,”Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The rare disruption, which affected Starlink users across both the united States and europe, was attributed to an internal software failure.