Fine Gael TD’s Tech Firm Received Almost €5,000,000 in Public Contracts Over Ten Years

Zing Technology, a firm co-founded by Fine Gael TD Naoise Ó Muirí in 2007, has received public contracts worth almost €5,000,000 over the last ten years, according to records obtained from various bodies under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

Naoise Ó Muirí has represented Dublin Bay North since the last election, having previously served twenty years as a councillor in Clontarf. He is a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, and now serves as chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy.

Ó Muirí co-founded Zing in 2007 and he remains managing director. He is the majority owner of the firm, with 79% of its shares.

He declared ongoing contracts between Zing Technology and four public bodies on the Dáil Register of Members’ Interests.

The company also has an ongoing contract with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, which is not a public body under the Ethics in Public Office Act, but is under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to its website, Zing “helps companies maintain and improve unsupported software applications” and specialises in “financial services and government agencies”. It lists Mazars, DekaBank, Zurich, AXA, Cigna, Brink’s and G4S among its corporate clients.

The four ongoing contracts declared by Ó Muirí are with Bord Bia, the Marine Institute, Táilte Éireann and the Valuation Tribunal. The total value of each contract to date varies from just under €100,000 over eight years with the Valuation Tribunal to over €2,000,000 over four years with the Marine Institute.

The contract with the Royal Irish Academy of Music was signed in 2018 “for the design, development, implementation and support of online applications services and platform migration with support and maintenance of RIAM legacy systems”.

An extension was agreed in 2020 “for the continuation of additional enhancements and support to the platform”. The total value of the contract to date is €399,416.

Prior clients during the ten-year period covered by the FOIs (2015-present) include Pobal and An Bord Pleanála, whose contracts terms were 2015-2020 and 2020-2021 respectively. Zing was also contracted by Fáilte Ireland from 2009 to 2012.

As a county councillor, Ó Muirí was only required to disclose contracts with local authorities, and it is unclear if Zing has received contracts from any other public bodies since 2007.