Micheál Martin
Ceist:1. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the status of the plans for revamping his Department's website. [23795/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 19 June 2018
Ceisteanna (1, 2)
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:2. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach his plans to update his Department's website. [24672/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (4 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
There is no plan to revamp or update the Department's website. As part of a broader programme of work to streamline citizen information, all non-transactional Government websites are being migrated to one portal, gov.ie. The gov.ie website is managed by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, OGCIO.
It is planned that later in the year Government Department websites will begin migration to gov.ie. To support the migration, my Department has opted to be one of the first Departments to migrate. Merrionstreet.ie will continue in its role as the Government news service website.
As the Taoiseach will be aware, documents released under freedom of information show that the procurement of a new website for the Department of the Taoiseach and a new overall web portal was rushed through last year. This happened before a single piece of research had been undertaken on what the users of the sites might want. The Taoiseach will also be aware that the one uniform finding from the small piece of work carried out by the strategic communications unit on international practice stated that all initiatives should emerge from a clear public demand and not from politicians or officials. Is it acceptable practice to commission major work such as this in advance of developing specifications informed by users?
The Taoiseach committed to the research being published. When will this happen? It is the near uniform experience of such projects that a failure to start with consultation and research leads to wasted effort and money.
It is more than six months since the Taoiseach told the Dáil that parties would be consulted in advance of the public opinion commissioned by the strategic communications unit. Will he explain why this extraordinary delay has occurred? I am informed that it is viewed as bad practice to undertake major opinion research during holiday periods. When will the research that the House has been discussing for a long time be carried out? There was meant to be consultation with all of us but for some reason that has not happened in six months.
I echo Deputy Martin's question. Is it intended to go ahead with the research or has it been abandoned?
In a similar response last year, the Taoiseach stated that as part of the eGovernment strategy, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer had been working on the development of a digital service gateway. This, the Taoiseach stated, would allow for "a single digital point where citizens can easily access information about the Government services that are available to them." We would all welcome that as a means of providing a more user-friendly experience for citizens, the users of Government websites. The MyGovID service has been a welcome addition in this regard, as has the gov.ie portal, but the Taoiseach should not take this as an endorsement of his strategic communications unit. It simply makes sense to harmonise the Government's online presence. In fact, it should have been done years ago.
The Department of the Taoiseach's website, in fairness, is not bad and is fairly easy to use and navigate. Like all of the Government websites, however, it could do with a makeover. Is it envisaged that the Department's website will be changed in line with the gov.ie concept?
It makes sense to have a single Government website. I have explained previously my view that Government is too fragmented, that every Department and agency has its own website and web officer and it makes sense to have a single portal. MyGovID works well and gov.ie, which will be the single portal for Departments, will work well too. It should not be necessary to expend public money on expensive research to tell us why it makes sense to have a single Government website. It simply makes sense to me because that is the direction in which the world is moving and this has been done successfully in other countries.
The reason for the delay in undertaking the citizen survey is that it has not been a priority. My Department has many tasks and the citizen survey has not been a priority. I was only briefed on the matter in the past two or three weeks. It is planned to consult Opposition leaders on the questions before the survey is in the field and to publish the results when it is complete. As I stated, with so many things going on, the survey has not been a priority. While it is still intended to carry it out, it may well be the autumn before that happens.
On the role of gov.ie, with due regard to international practice, as part of the eGovernment Strategy 2017-20 and in line with the Our Public Service 2020 report, the Government Information Service, GIS, has been working with the Office of the Chief Information Officer to develop gov.ie. The website will serve as a single digital point where citizens can easily access information about Government services that are available to them and provide the digital face of the Government to the people. The OGCIO is responsible for the technical development of the site in line with its responsibility to lead on the implementation of the public service ICT strategy. The Government Information Service is responsible for ensuring the website is developed and is citizen focused in design and content and consistent with international best practice and overarching Government communications. Consultation, trialling and testing are ongoing and will involve the rationalisation of existing Government websites and online services over time.