Vol. 519 No. 4
54 Dr. Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the guidelines in place for regulating the type of material placed on her departmental websites; the further guidelines to regulate the links included on the website; and if the guidelines in this regard include party political or commercial material. [14012/00]
My Department has followed the guidelines in the report, Recommended Guidelines for Public Sector Organisations, published by the Department of the Taoiseach in October 1999. In addition, internal guidelines have been drawn up and issued to all staff in my Department addressing such issues as updating, accuracy, format and compliance with Freedom of Information Act requirements.
Regarding links to other sites, my Department proactively creates links with bodies operating under its aegis, and any other entities, which may have information relevant to our principal client groups. However, my Department's website does not contain any material of a party political or commercial nature nor does it contain any links of such a nature. Given the nature of the Internet, external persons with Internet access have unimpeded access to our website, including the creation of links to it.
55 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the guidelines in place for regulating the type of material placed on his departmental websites; the further guidelines to regulate the links included on the website; and if the guidelines in this regard include party political or commercial material. [14013/00]
In line with all Departments, my Department is committed under the Government Action Plan for Implementing the Information Society in Ireland to have and maintain a website. An interdepartmental group was established following the launch of this action plan to draw up service wide guidelines and practices for public service websites.
