Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Nash has referred to the need to avoid having to type in one's information again and again. That is referred to as the once only principle. It is a common principle across Europe that people should have the convenience of being able to store their information. That requires joined-up government and the data sharing Act which has been put in place. Large sections of that Act were very recently commenced. These include the appointment of the data sharing board. We cannot just push the data out to everybody without consent. We must do it with consent and must preserve trust at the same time. If one gives one's information to one Department, it should not hand it over to another without one understanding why or where it is going. We have that balance between trust and convenience. People want to be able to access their Government services. They do not want to have to type in their address 50 times or to start from scratch every time they deal with a different Department. That is that balance between trust, joining up and data sharing. There are four critical parts to our new national digital strategy. The ICT strategy for public services is only one part. We also need to consider communications, broadband and business and ensure that our digital skills are up to date. Those are the four components of our national digital strategy, which is to come out very soon.

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