The social insurance bank SVB, which pays out state pensions and child benefits, has abandoned its new IT system because of persistent failings.

Experts have advised pulling the plug on the project because it would be ‘extremely problematic’ to continue, junior social affairs minister Jetta Klijnsma told parliament in a briefing on Tuesday.

The SVB has invested nearly €44m in the project since it began in 2006. The decision to scrap it will not have an impact on payments, the organisation said.

The system has been developed by computer services group Capgemini. A spokeswoman said the company regretted the delays in completing the project but declined to comment further, news agency ANP said.

Commission

Experts told a government commission looking into problems with a variety of government IT projects earlier this year the state has lost billions of euros through system failures.

Just 7% of the projects with a budget starting at €7.5m can be said to be successful, information science professor Hans Mulder told MPs in April. In total, 70% of projects fail.

Of those which flop, 36% fail so seriously the new system is never used and around half are of doubtful value because they turn out to be too expensive, take too long or produce unexpected results, Mulder said.