Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2004
508 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement on the implementation by the Land Registry office of the joint programme commitment that all public services capable of electronic delivery will be available through a single point of contact. [17529/04]
View answerThe Land Registry has made significant progress in the development and implementation of its ICT programme. A significant advance was made in providing Internet-based access and services to customers when the integrated title registration information system and the electronic access service were launched in 1999. The information system was gradually rolled out to the entire country, culminating with the final counties in October 2002. All registrations have been made on an electronic register since then. The electronic access service was the first e-government project to go live in the Civil Service.
Following the early success of the electronic access service, a crucial task to be achieved was the conversion of over 110 years of historical paper records into electronic format. This work, which commenced in 2002, will be completed ahead of schedule in July 2004. Under the project some 6.4 million pages of official records were systematically scanned, indexed, checked and loaded onto the system for use by customers through the Internet. The following table, which presents a snapshot of some of the key performance indicators, shows that uptake and usage continues to grow steadily and that the volume of users and the level of transactions continue to be well ahead of projections.
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 (projected) |
|
|
No. of subscribers |
1,700 |
2,900 |
4,400 |
6,120 |
7,200 |
|
No. of business transactions conducted through the electronic access service each year |
123,943 |
159,807 |
274,561 |
497,560 |
700,000 |
Over 80% of the Land Registry's customer base accesses services through the electronic access service. Over 70% of applications for some services are made on-line. Approximately 3,500 on-line business transactions are conducted through the electronic access service each day. In many cases, it is possible to complete one's business entirely on-line.
The Land Registry's electronic access service is modelled to avail of the e-broker intermediary being developed by Reach. It is particularly intended to take advantage of the common security regime and electronic payments mechanisms which will emanate from the work of Reach. The Land Registry's electronic service delivery strategy takes into account the rapidly changing nature of technology and the evolving demands for more efficient service delivery models through the use of ICTs. The strategy includes further examination of the possibilities for delivering additional services electronically.
The key areas under consideration include the introduction of digital mapping, so that all map-based information can be made available electronically. The digital mapping project, which covers all the land in the State, was recently approved by the Minister for Finance for funding and preparations are under way. Liaison with the legal profession and financial institutions is ongoing, as part of attempts to extend the range of services available electronically. Options are being considered to eliminate paper-based certification from the registration process. We are contributing to the Law Reform Commission's report on the future of electronic conveyancing.
A number of developments are ongoing to facilitate existing service delivery on the electronic access service. The developments which have been successfully implemented or are planned for implementation during 2004 include the electronic access service website, www.landregistry.ie, which underwent a complete redesign and upgrade during 2003. More than 70,000 visits to the Land Registry’s homepage are made each month. Additional functional, performance and accessibility developments have been implemented which have facilitated, and will continue to facilitate, the further extension of the range of services currently available through the site. A further enhancement, subject to available funding, will see the commencement of the implementation of a project — already two years at planning stage — to incorporate the information and services of the registry of deeds into the electronic access service.
