Enda Kenny
Question:5 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the costs which have accrued to his Department in respect of the e-Cabinet project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26242/03]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - E-Cabinet Project.
The e-Cabinet initiative will deploy modern technologies to assist Departments in the preparation of memoranda for Government and related matters. Among the benefits which the system will deliver will be a secure network for electronic transmission of these records, replacing the existing manual distribution, improved support for interdepartmental consultation on proposals for Cabinet and electronic transmission of Cabinet decisions. Ministers will be able to monitor decisions coming before Cabinet, and use of electronic documents at Cabinet meetings will also be facilitated.
The implementation of this initiative follows the feasibility study commissioned by my Department from the consultants, PricewaterhouseCoopers, which identified the scope for significant process improvements through such an initiative. The study identified the substantial potential benefits such a system could deliver when it gave an indicative estimate of costs of the order of €4.1 million, including VAT, for the central element of the project, potentially rising to a figure of the order of €6.75 million, including VAT, taking account of other costs such as security of the structure and costs which might accrue to individual Departments.
Apart from identifying the specific benefits for the Cabinet administrative process, the study also drew attention to the fact that features of this new system could be used to support other Government initiatives. Current indications are that the project is being delivered within the projected costs.
Is the Taoiseach happy that, when this system goes live, it will be immune to hacking by experts? For example, there are serious allegations about the security of the electronic voting system. I recall a reformed hacker with a laptop standing outside the Kildare Street gate of Leinster House offering the chance to read the Taoiseach's e-mails.
The Nenagh Hospital action committee accessed them.
Yes. Has the project gone live? It was to have gone live by September last. This was a specific commitment in the programme for Government for the Department of the Taoiseach. If it has not gone live, will that affect the benchmarking payment to the people involved because this would be a verifiable and identifiable productivity outcome?
It has not gone live yet. It is a custom-built application tailored to meet specific complex needs and we did not use outside consultants to do the work. The staff in the information technology unit are doing it which is a significant saving of costs. The length of time it is taking reflects the fact that it is a wide-ranging project which affects all Departments. We must have considerable functionality and ensure that from day one we can operate it successfully. It is a major system and a great change because it eliminates the manual distribution of all the Cabinet papers throughout the system. There is a much quicker dissemination of documents in a secure electronic environment.
I am advised that it is fully secure, but probably many experts have thought about this. However, the developers are, and have been from the outset, extremely conscious of security which was also highlighted in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. It will enable Departments to manage documents more quickly and efficiently in a secure electronic environment to improve cross-departmental co-ordination of policy proposals and will present issues more effectively to the Cabinet and generally through the system. The archive recording of will be much better because it will be easier to retrieve documents as time goes on. It is a major change in the system that has existed since the foundation of the State and brings us into a top class IT system. Only one other country is at this stage of development so great care is being taken. Training is also involved, not least for Ministers but also, more importantly, for the many working within the system.
Does this mean that Ministers who are abroad or elsewhere in the country will be able to log into the Cabinet proceedings from laptops? Will that extend to the point where, for example, the Minister for Education and Science might be able to contribute to the Cabinet meeting from Donegal because he can log on to the discussion in real time?
On a separate point, does the Taoiseach intend to continue having Cabinet meetings throughout the country? There are several communities which would welcome the Taoiseach and the Cabinet to discuss not only the Cabinet agenda but also local matters.
We intend to continue to do that but not too often in the next six months.
There will be many elections to send back the message.
This will not happen overnight but Deputy Kenny is right that, in effect, a Minister will be able to attend a Cabinet meeting with his or her disc and can log on from any remote location. Business people operate in this way all the time, as no doubt Deputy Kenny has seen at meetings. Some of the best technology-driven companies are in the west where they can log on to board meetings and connect with people around the world. This will take time.
We are trying in one move to go from a very antiquated manual system for the distribution of documents to modern technology. The electronic enabling system will provide a foundation on which, in time, it will be possible to develop further applications and efficiencies. I hope this will happen in a relatively short time but certainly by the end of this decade it should be possible for people in remote locations to log on. It has taken only two or maybe two and a half years, to bring this system through. It should be live in 2004 and then people can move into further technologies.