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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Jan 2001

Vol. 529 No. 1

Written Answers. - Electronic Government.

Rory O'Hanlon

Question:

159 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans for the development and encouragement of e-government in 2001, and the amount of money included in her Department's Estimate for this purpose in 2001. [1558/01]

The Government has a crucial role to play in the development of the information society. Electronic government is an opportunity to take advantage of the increased productivity, reduced costs and improved customer responsiveness that can be achieved by using these new technologies. E-government will also enhance the business community's and the citizen's access to government information and services and speed up standard administrative processes. It can also provide new ways to increase citizen participation in the democratic process.

An e-government strategy has been drawn up by my Department as part of its strategy statement for the years 2001 to 2003. This e-government strategy is in keeping with the principles laid down in the Government's action plan on implementing the information society in Ireland.

As an integral part of my Department's aim to deliver a quality customer service, we will ensure the on-line delivery of our services is customer focused and offers a speedy, low cost and accessible option for our customers who wish to interact with the Department through the Internet. Information on all of the services provided by the Department is available on our website which can be accessed at www.entemp.ie. We also recognise that the traditional means of communication will continue to be a feature of customer service in my Department.

The targets set for the delivery of these on-line public services will be within the timeframe of 2002, envisaged in the e-Europe action plan and agreed by the European Council at Feira in June 2000. To expedite this process my Department has engaged an external facilitator to prepare a report that will identify and prioritise those services to be delivered electronically. The report will also detail the human, financial and technological resources required to deliver our services electronically. The study will be completed by end February 2001.

My Department's on-line services will form a major part of the reach project's government portal which is being developed as a comprehensive on-line service for all interactions with Government. Our on-line service to business will be accessible through the basis project which my Department is responsible for developing under the information society action plan. The basis project arises from a commitment by all levels of Government to improve the compliance processes that affect business in Ireland and make it easier for business to deal with government. The delivery of information and services will be based around the events of a business such as starting a business, employing staff, accessing funding or registering a company. The development of the BASIS application is scheduled to start in February 2001 with the implementation of the first module scheduled for May 2001.
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