Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

There are examples across other Departments. It is a lengthy process. Some of the biggest are not necessarily public schemes, but industrial stability has been maintained across the entire system. There has been co-operation in regard to flexibility and ongoing change throughout the public service and satisfactory implementation of the agenda for modernisation. Those that affect the public involve services to the public. I mentioned some of these. The agricultural payments system used to be very strung out and there were always delays before Christmas. The system has been modernised and it is now very efficient. A number of areas have been modernised. Use of information technology is something that would have been negotiated as it was seen as regrading. It was introduced without difficulty as part of benchmarking across Departments and continues to be. Systems that have been modernised include the on-line system for motor taxation which has won awards, and livestock registration and identification. The Revenue on-line system is considered to be one of the best in Europe. It was introduced with the co-operation of staff and has resulted in a far more simplified tax compliance system. The on-line service is being rolled out to PAYE workers. It started with companies and corporate taxes and has been rolled out to include on-line claiming of credits and allowances, on-line requests for reviews of one's tax position and on-line viewing of one's tax records. Full filing is not yet available but Revenue wants to include that in the next round of benchmarking, thus completing the entire process.

The efficient integration of public services, particularly where they cut across several agencies, produces benefits for customers. The integration of services relating to child registration has simplified what was a very complex process involving various procedures associated with the birth of a child. That directly affected every parent. In regard to the registration of a birth, the creation of a child's public identity, and claiming child benefit, the queues that existed until recent years have disappeared and the system works well. Everything is done at a single point of contact, making it easy for parents and for service providers. Up to approximately two years ago the Deputy would have been asking questions regarding delays in the system. We now have extended opening hours. I hold the view that that should always have been the case rather than the traditional system of closing for lunch and not having some staff working earlier and some later. That has now been achieved. There are extended opening hours in library branches, the General Register Office, the Visa Office and a host of others in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in terms of the single payment. I could go on but it is not necessary to do that.

None of these developments is massive but collectively what has been achieved in the last benchmarking round and what I hope can be achieved in the next is significant for the Civil Service.

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