Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Good public servants within Departments have shown leadership on this issue. I made that point at the outset. To expand on some of the examples I gave, huge savings have been made in systems in the Revenue Commissioners, the motor taxation section and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food because of the ingenuity and leadership of people within the system. That must be acknowledged. My Department encourages and advocates a greater performance in those areas.

The modernisation of public service, with which we are determined to proceed, in particular following the comments in the OECD report, will be a key target of Government. A recommendation of the OECD report, with which I agree, is the use of e-Government, as a central part of such modernisation. The revenue on-line service will lead to an estimated annual saving of €18 million due to the work of the staff in introducing that system. The motor tax on-line service will result in a saving of €924,000 and the introduction of the public jobs website will result in savings of €1.7 million. The e-Cabinet project will result in savings of €60,000 to €70,000 and the system in the Patents Office of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment——

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