Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

noting the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the Government's e-Government strategy;

noting the publication of the OECD report on the public service, which calls for a new approach to the use of technology in the modernisation process;

noting the possibilities offered by the prudent exploitation of technology in the modernisation and transformation of Government in pursuit of higher levels of performance, especially in terms of efficiencies, cost-savings, ease of consumer access, transparency, and improving computer literacy generally;

acknowledging the increasing potential of technology in improving performance in meeting citizen needs;

noting the results of a recent survey which indicated that 78% of people want improved access to Government through IT;

acknowledging that on-line Government services should exist as a complement to, and not as a replacement of, traditional face-to-face and phone-based services;

noting that no formal e-Government strategy has been in place since early 2006, and therefore the need for a new strategy for the use of technology in Government; and

welcomes, in that context, the Department of the Taoiseach's commitment to publish a new plan for the Knowledge Society this July setting out the new strategy for the use of technology in Government in the context of modernisation and performance improvement;

proposes that:

the Government should ensure that responsibility for the implementation of the projects identified in the strategy is clearly assigned and that the plan should:

contain short, medium and long-term targets;

provide for a method of regular review and reporting on the achievement or otherwise of those targets;

address the need for secure identification and payment systems that are low-cost, flexible and easy to use, as a foundation for the development of sophisticated on-line public services;

give commitments to the provision, in a two year timeframe (and subject to 6 monthly reviews), of on-line systems for driving licences, haulage licences, student grants and housing grants, procurement and tendering, planning permission and planning objections, birth certificates, health services information, marriage certificates and death certificates, payment of court fines and commercial rates; and

provide for the extension of citizen information facilities to include on-line public transport information where possible;

the Government should consider assigning an 'innovation brokering' function, to encourage and support, where appropriate, partnerships with academic institutions and industry, to stimulate innovation, harnessing emerging technologies to support modernisation and performance improvement, initially focusing on:

the potential for using mobile devices for access to and use of services;

the use of digital TV for interactive Government services; and

the possibilities for greater exploitation of low-cost on-line tools and software;

the Government should also include, in respect of modernisation and transformation projects supported by technology:

a provision that all projects must be published with the name of the person with ultimate responsibility for implementing the project, a clear statement of objectives, a detailed budget and clear measurable deadlines;

a provision for annual overall reporting on modernisation, including where practicable, assessments of benefits, user satisfaction levels etc. to be presented to the Oireachtas; and

a mechanism or process for consideration of cross-organisational issues and services, where responsibilities and funding can be agreed and where innovative services can be designed around user needs;

the Government should also establish a rigorous code of practice governing the treatment of sensitive personal data by public sector organisations, including guidelines and procedures for the storage, transmission and transportation of personal data (including on laptops, data keys etc.), and six-monthly review of all encryption and security software procedures.

With my remaining vocal cords, I commend Deputy Coveney and the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt, for being able to reach agreement on a joint motion. It is progressive and it does the State a service. We are in common agreement on the need to move towards the greater use of e-communications in Government business. No one disputes that. How we achieve it is the key issue. Rather than hammering backwards and forwards, with the Opposition claiming that the Government is doing nothing and it is all wrong, and the Government retorting that the Opposition knows nothing and it is all happening, it is far more progressive for the Dáil and the Houses to tease out the details of where we can reach agreement as has happened with the drafting of the amendment to the motion. I commend Deputy Coveney and the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, in this regard.

The motion comes at a timely moment not alone in respect of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, but, particularly, the publication on Monday of the OECD report which is of significant consequence in terms of the development of public services in Ireland. The report comes at an interesting time. It is clear we are at a stage when we will be not as certain as we have been over the past ten or 15 years of the levels of growth in income and other taxes. In these circumstances, there will be, rightly and justly, real pressure on us to make the most effective use of public money. In this context, there is no greater opportunity for us to deliver greater efficiencies and improvements in public service than through the deployment of new digital technologies which are rapidly evolving.

My ministerial office is responsible for communications and broadcasting. One can see emerging a pattern of rapid change in the computing industries with services now being stored and delivered not from servers within the office but from a remote network, one of the tools of the trade in computing. Not having to have complex, heavy pieces of machinery in every office of the State and being able store information remotely and access it over the Internet will result in huge efficiencies.

Efficiencies are also being delivered through changes in technology in the communications area which allow for the fast transfer of data. This does not happen only in the area of traditional fixed line networks but in regard to a new range of mobile devices, all of which we are using in a way not expected five years ago. This work in terms of how we promote a new e-services strategy within Government is timely. It fits in with what I understand as the general recommendation of the OECD review, namely, that we need a flexible public service that is networked across other Departments. We cannot have one Department working on an issue without recognising that often three or four other Departments have an equal interest or responsibility in that regard. Co-ordination can work far better in areas where there is open communication and digital communication systems which work effectively together.

I would like now to concentrate on broadband, an issue raised by a number of Members opposite, and, I am sure, by Members on this side of the House, in terms of how we can, through the provision of broadband, improve the services we use in the State. The State can be a leader or a real stimulator of broadband applications. The State, through its own procurement policies and delivery of its own services, has the potential to be a leader and to assist other commercial sectors of Irish society to make similar efficiencies and improvements in customer service. It can also lead in terms of the use of new broadband communication technologies to sell not alone in Ireland but around the world.

The delivery of public services in the area of health, education and various Departments will assist in building up a volume of business for data broadband networks which will help them become commercially applicable elsewhere. Crucial development is often in the area of small applications. Immediate usage will not necessarily be in the area of 100 mega connectivity broadband applications but in ubiquitous connectivity. The fact that we can connect to the Internet in a whole variety of locations through a wide variety of platforms is what will give us as a country the advantage over other countries. It is our flexibility in public policy making — the type of flexibility shown here tonight — that should provide us with an advantage to spend Irish taxpayers' money well, to create Ireland as a best case example for development of new e-communication services.

I commend the amended motion and both parties involved in its drafting.

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