Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together.

The special report on e-Government, prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General, focused on a number of specific areas including strategies, costs and projects. The report acknowledges that there have been many successful projects which, when compared with other countries, points to Ireland being exceptional in the high level of success that has been achieved.

It is important to understand that the development of the information society both here and abroad is a story of evolution that started with a strong focus on the supply of technology and the development of on-line facilities for information dissemination and, increasingly, the use of the Internet for conducting transactional business. In short, much of the earlier efforts were concentrated on putting things on-line because of the perceived need to establish a momentum.

More recently, the emphasis has shifted towards 'outcome' achievement and there is a growing recognition that the decision on whether and when to deploy technologies needs to take account of the capacity of organisations to cope with, and to effectively manage, the changes required in terms of the people, the processes and the organisational cultures involved.

It is no longer a simple issue of just procuring the technology. It is fundamentally an issue of setting out to achieve a goal of improved performance in an integrated approach that takes account of the context outlined above, both within government and in all other sectors of society where managers and leaders pursue the goal of better outcomes.

One aspect of this is that the power of technology is opening up possibilities for new services, new structures that reflect different types of relationships, and a shift in service cultures being brought about by the social innovations emerging from the huge increase in Internet-based social networking.

In terms of the use of technology in Government, it can both catalyse and support change and modernisation being undertaken to improve the performance on the public service in the many activities that this involves. For instance, the goals and targets set out in the current programme for Government, in the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, in the national action plan on social inclusion and in the national development plan mean that the organisations involved in implementing the relevant schemes and programmes will deploy resources and implement organisational transformations around these new purposes.

The information society policy unit at my Department has been responsible for co-ordinating the development of information society policy in Ireland. However, under the Public Service Management Act 1997 individual Departments are responsible for the delivery of services related to their own remits. The Department of Finance, which is responsible for policy on the deployment of information and communications technologies in Government Departments has, by circular 16/97, given individual Departments and offices responsibility for e-Government projects under normal delegated sanction for ICT related expenditure. Accordingly, questions related to specific e-Government projects should be addressed to the relevant Departments.

The Department of the Taoiseach does not have responsibility for the delivery of many "public facing" services, with the exception of our websites which have been expanded and enhanced in recent years. Therefore, the question of my Department delivering "new or improved services" for members of the public does not arise in practice.

The information society policy unit at my Department was established in 1999 following the publication of the first action plan for the development of an information society in Ireland. One of the strands of that plan was around the development of on-line service delivery mechanisms and the unit worked in conjunction with other Departments in promoting that goal. It is important to bear in mind that the main focus was on getting services on-line as an outcome in itself, on the basis that by doing so the quality of the service experience would be improved in terms of speed and convenience. As the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report points out, there was considerable success in that drive and we now have several hundred services on-line to individuals and businesses.

To boost the momentum, the information society fund was used to support e-Government projects until the end of 2005. At that stage, it was felt that Departments and agencies should have mainstreamed the use of modern technologies where compatible with their business objectives and it was no longer necessary to have a special fund because by treating e-Government as something different, it was felt that it was in danger of being considered a luxury rather than a necessity for organisations to improve their performance in their particular field of activity. As I indicated, however, questions related to specific e-Government projects should be addressed to the relevant Departments.

In the case of the Department of the Taoiseach, it has had significant success in the use of ICT to improve the internal services it provides, including e-Cabinet. The e-Cabinet system, which is in operation across Departments, was implemented on a phased basis between 2004 and 2007. In 2005, the Department's internal audit unit completed an audit on the e-Cabinet project, which was funded under the Government's information society fund. The purpose of the audit was to provide assurance to the Department's Accounting Officer on the integrity of the financial records and procedures. The subsequent report by the internal audit unit concluded that the correct procedures and financial records had been maintained. It also noted that significant savings had been made on the delivery costs of the project. The total cost of the e-Cabinet project was slightly more than €5 million, well below the initial estimated cost of €6.45 million, at 2001 prices, even though the system has many additional features beyond those referred to in the 2001 PWC feasibility study.

The Department of the Taoiseach, in the context of its steering role in public service modernisation, encourages all Departments to aim for the highest standards of service delivery, including the innovative and targeted use of ICT. The principal proposals prepared by Departments and offices were collated by my Department and published in the first information society action plan and its successor, New Connections.

The Information Society Commission played an important role, as an independent advisory body, in increasing awareness and understanding of the potential contribution that can be made by ICT. It also provided advice to the Government and played a key role in shaping the evolving public policy framework for the development of the information society in Ireland.

The second commission's term ended in December 2004 and its final report, Learning to Innovate, was published in January 2005. By the time the commission published its final report, it had produced 14 valuable reports on a wide range of information society related issues which were taken into account in formulating policy. By the time the commission's term ended, awareness of information technology was high and the key issues identified for action were inclusion and the incorporation of the exploitation of technology within mainstream management across the sectors.

The commission endorsed the move from the concept of an information society to one of a knowledge society, with a consequent shift in emphasis to building knowledge assets that are more mobile and potent in our globalised world. This, in turn, highlights the need to create and maintain an environment that is conducive to creativity — one which values those who will create and work with such knowledge assets. It also underlines the need to ensure as many people as possible get access to the facilities and services ICT and the Internet can provide.

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General acknowledges that many e-Government projects — the majority of the projects it reviewed — have been successful. These include the Revenue on-line service, ROS, motor tax on-line, citizens' information and agricultural services. The previously mentioned e-Cabinet project delivered by the Department of the Taoiseach is another example of how technologies can be used to deliver internal efficiencies and this project, spearheaded by my Department, has attracted international interest.

There are also examples of e-Government projects that have resulted in substantial financial savings, such as the Government virtual private network, GVPN, which reduced the voice and data telecommunications costs of public bodies by between 20% and 50%.

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