Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I have not entered into any public or private speculation in regard to any upcoming arrangements regarding how Government is organised and I do not intend to do so here. On the question of e-Government, according to the latest European Union Commission e-Government benchmarks, Ireland's ranking for on-line sophistication has improved from 17th position in 2007 to joint 7th position, with an equivalent rating to the United Kingdom and Finland. The same benchmarks place Ireland in the top two countries for e-procurement services. Examples of on-line services which have been progressed include on-line applications for birth, marriage and death certificates; automatic reminders when driving licences and passports expire; payment of the majority of courts fines electronically; and on-line declarations to the Garda Síochána for minor crimes. The customer does not need to know the relevant Garda station as back-end processes ensure they are routed correctly.

In addition, Ireland is one of the only countries in Europe which has put in place a high-speed national Government network to which all public bodies can connect using any telecommunications operator in the Irish marketplace. The Department of Finance is currently working with Departments, offices and agencies to develop a rolling programme of e-Government projects. In this regard, Departments are developing detailed e-Government plans.

On the question of public procurement, we had a long discussion on this matter during Leaders' Questions last week. I do not think I can add anything further to the discussion. I emphasised the need for as much flexibility as possible to accommodate the SME sector in Ireland to be able to participate in Government procurement.

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