Vol. 524 No. 6
183 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the plans he has to upgrade headage and premia application on-line, to enable herd owners with computer access to link up with Department offices for submission of applications and to allow herd owners to check the progress of their applications on-line; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23510/00]
A new IT strategy was produced earlier this year for my Department. This strategy recognises the importance of the effective use of IT in the delivery of our schemes and services to all our customers and it sets out a plan for the redevelopment of all the major systems in use in my Department over the next five years.
A significant part of this strategy is the redevelopment of both the headage and premia computer systems to provide a more modern and efficient service to our clients and, inter alia, provide the necessary changes required as a result of Agenda 2000. When redeveloped, it is envisaged that the new systems will be capable of being used for direct online scheme application submission by farmers through their own PCs or through a “kiosk” service. It is also envisaged that such redevelopment would include facilities for farmers to check the progress of their application(s) online.
In fact, in July of this year my Department issued a protocol on direct payments to farmers and one of the major protocol principles is the greater use of information and communications technologies for the purpose of communicating information and receipt of applications and notifications, where this is legally possible.
The Government recognises the importance of modernising the mechanisms used by all State agencies in the provision of their services and has consequently set up a new agency, REACH, under the auspices of the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs. The new REACH agency has been tasked with developing a strategy for the integration of public services and developing and implementing a framework for electronic government.
My Department will be working closely with the REACH agency to ensure that we not only develop our systems to provide access to our customers but to also ensure that we integrate our services with all other State agencies to provide a single point of contact to all customers and to ensure that our customers are not repeatedly requested to provide the same information to different State agencies.
