John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on e-Government. As one who has had an on-line presence since I was first elected to South Dublin County Council in 1999, I leave myself open to the criticism that my web presence is not as good as it should be. However, I acknowledge the relevance of on-line communication. As a member of the Committee of Public Accounts and having read the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and debated it at that committee, I have a keen interest in this motion.

Previous speakers referred to the cost of the programme to date. While I acknowledge that the level of expenditure was in excess of that budgeted, in the period under review in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report the level of expenditure was in the region of €420 million. If one examines the report of the Accounting Officer and the whole picture, one sees that the accountable savings over the same period were approximately €86 million per year, which is well in excess of €500 million for the period under review.

In many ways, that is too crude and too basic a means by which to examine this area. It is easy to say that if we introduce e-Government and information and communications technologies, we will save X amount and simply measure that. We can say we are saving on staff costs, literature, post and so forth, but that is too basic and does not take into account what is going on.

What does e-Government mean and what does it mean to the ordinary person in the street? If one takes the examples of Revenue on-line and car tax on-line, one can see tangible benefits. We can identify, for example, what is being saved by having car tax available on-line but we do not take account of the saving to the individual. It is not so long ago that one had to go to River House in Chancery Street to renew one's car tax. One joined one queue to get the paperwork done, another to pay and another still to collect the tax disc. In that context, the measure of calculating the benefit of such services is inaccurate in that it only examines the savings from the perspective of the service provider. It does not take account of the saving to the public, which is far greater and in many cases we do not quantify and acknowledge that. It is important to realise that there is a far greater benefit than has been financially quantified from the introduction of such services.

It is important to note that e-Government initiatives within Departments are the catalyst for other developments. I particularly acknowledge developments in my local authority area, that of South Dublin County Council. Unlike the previous speaker, I have nothing but praise for the e-Government initiatives and the electronic communication options available from South Dublin County Council across a wide range of areas. Planning forms, queries and so forth can be dealt with effectively and efficiently on-line. As with all initiatives, one needs someone to drive them forward. In that context, the staff of South Dublin County Council would readily acknowledge that the driving force is the County Manager, Mr. Joe Horan. I use the system on a daily basis and know that not only is it efficient for South Dublin County Council, it is also efficient and time-saving for me.

I highlight the fact that the Government Chief Whip and Deputy Coveney have an agreed motion before us tonight. Given that this is an issue in which we all have a keen interest, that should be acknowledged and appreciated. Effective e-Government is something upon which we need to deliver. In case anyone thinks we have done nothing and things are going nowhere, the Comptroller and Auditor General commented to the Committee of Public Accounts in March of this year:

My review suggests that the momentum evident in the early years towards developing e-government appears to have faded. I note, however, that the Department of the Taoiseach is working with other Departments and agencies on the development of a new strategy. This, together with the findings of the near-complete OECD review of public sector performance, should provide a sound basis for building on the substantial e-government achievements to date.

That is reflected in the agreed motion.

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