Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Coveney for moving this timely motion. It is a statement of intent from this side of the House that not only do we need to be competitive on the international stage by introducing next generation information communications technologies, but we need do so within the public sector if we are to be competitive on the international stage.

It is a timely motion in light of the report from the Comptroller and Auditor General and the report from the OECD, which was published this week. I have read transcripts from the OECD report. If one really reads between the lines, it reveals a fairly major indictment of opportunities missed and strategies that could have been implemented but which the Government failed to do in the past ten years. Naturally, the OECD report is not a political document but if one reads between the lines, one can see that it is in the guise of a lead balloon presented to the Government table by an OECD fork-lift driver. This is how subtly it is done and brought to the public realm by the OECD, but it is a serious document that should be read very closely and its constructive criticisms implemented as a matter of form.

In respect of missed opportunities, the bedrock of any democracy relates to the freedom of information — information that citizens can access on an individual or collective basis in respect of proper transparent democracy. In 2003, that opportunity was missed. I debated at length, along with my colleagues in the Seanad, the difficulties that would develop as a result of the stringent locking of horns in respect of not allowing proper transparent information to get out into the public realm. That opportunity was lost when it could have been utilised through the mechanism of information technology and people could have accessed information through their own computers where they had access to broadband or through their one-stop-shops. That major opportunity was lost.

The issue of State agencies was also cited in the OECD report. A plethora of State agencies work very well individually but there is a dearth of information in terms of knowing what other agencies are doing and what their own mappings are in terms of progress and their core objectives and aims. There is an overlap and duplication. Many State agencies are tripping over one another because there is a duplication of their core aims and objectives. That could have been avoided if agencies were able to access what the other agencies were doing. That could have been done through e-Government. That was mooted in many of the proposals and, as Deputy Coveney mentioned, 161 pilot projects were to be implemented but opportunities were missed in that regard.

The fragmentation of agencies can be reflected in our day-to-day experience as politicians. The Minister is aware we are tripping over one another, so to speak, in terms of trying to get out information to the public. We cannot simply criticise the State agencies. We, as politicians, be it county councillors, urban councillors, TDs, Senators or Ministers, are all doing the same work because the members of the public continue to come to us to access information that they could have readily available in their county council office or in a one-stop-shop in the form of an electronic information system. That is the reason we bombard Departments with the same letters and people approach different political parties and politicians.

While it probably cannot be measured, I believe we as TDs are doing more work today on the basis of the information overload we receive from different avenues, be it the Internet, text, mobile and our constituency offices that we have increasingly made more accessible to the public. The fact that our workload has increased in the past ten years is an example of opportunities being missed in terms of information not reaching the public. E-Government would have provided a solution in that respect.

A simple way of addressing this issue, to which Deputy Coveney referred, is that a PPS number could have been used in terms of using one's vote, whereby person on reaching the age of 18 would have become electronically eligible to vote. They could check on the Internet or in their county council office whether they were registered to vote. We would not then have the mess we do with many of the electoral registers in the run up to county council and general elections. That was an opportunity missed. However, we always go wide of the mark in the introduction of major projects such as PPARS and electronic voting. They were the major ambitious visionary projects but we missed the practical common sense steps.

Regarding the 360,000 people employed throughout our public service, I hear calls by the incoming Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, for increased productivity, enhanced performance and the operation of services on an integrated basis. If I recall correctly, a gentleman on this side of the House, Deputy Richard Bruton, has talked about that in the form of benchmarking for the past five years. Our party was seriously criticised for that five years ago. However, that was the time to do this. It was not done five years ago or ten years ago. However, as Deputy Coveney said, we are not here to say what was not done and what opportunities were missed but to propose that it is still timely to do this.

In the north-western, cross-Border area, a collection of bodies comprising Donegal County Council, Derry City Council, the HSE, the Department of Social and Family Affairs and FÁS worked on a pilot mechanism. It not only involved the integration of services for the benefit of the public but a project that would operate on a cross-Border basis. Some €3 million was spent on that project, but it has still not been implemented. It is still timely to ensure that projects such as that one are implemented. They will benefit citizens and enhance customer relations between State agencies, Government and our citizens.

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