Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter in the Dáil. I am a public representative since 1999, when I was first elected to Offaly County Council, and I also served on the Midlands Regional Authority. I am well aware of the kind of public consultations that would have been conducted in those authorities, such as when the county development plans, arts plans, heritage plans, tourism plans and so on were being drafted. I am also aware of the procedures put in place by the NRA for consultation when new motorways were being constructed in different parts of the county.

Since my election to the Dáil in 2011, I have seen a huge shift in the means by which people receive information. As a public representative, people are engaging with me much more on social media, on the Internet, via texting and so on. The time has come for Departments and State agencies to move with the times. This has come into sharp focus for me in the debate on the pylons issue and the wind energy export proposals which the Government is undertaking and on which EirGrid undertook a public consultation. The citizens of the areas involved were unhappy because they felt the consultation was not made public enough and the opportunities were not there for them to engage fully as citizens of this country on issues that are going to be of critical importance to them. Many of the people I have met in Offaly with concerns about the wind energy export proposal feel that they have not been consulted, and they refer consistently to the Aarhus Convention. Having said all of that, I know this is a reforming Government, with serious aims about how we do our business. Examples include the Oireachtas website, www.merrionstreet.ie and the policy on e-tenders, and these are excellent efforts to reach out to our citizens.

My proposal is for a website which would be dedicated solely to public consultations. It could be entitled www.consultation.ie and would be a one-stop shop for members of the public to navigate in order to find out about public consultations that are relevant to them. For example, people in Offaly could click on the Offaly link and go straight to specific consultations such as county development plans and public consultation on the wind energy export proposal. People could also engage in national consultations on issues such as end of life proposals or whatever. They would have an opportunity, if they so wished, to have their say easily.

I appreciate that Departments have links to these consultations on their websites, but one would need to know it is there to go looking for it. It would be a tremendous opportunity for the citizens of this country to be able to have their say. There would be great opportunities for Oireachtas committees as well. I am on the environment and justice committees, and we regularly put a call out to interested groups on the various issues we are dealing with. It would be a tremendous opportunity for them to have their say as well. I hope the Minister considers this seriously, because it would be a tremendous instrument in making our democracy more user friendly and the citizens would have their say.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the constructive suggestion she set out in this topical issue. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, and all of us in the Government are committed to enhance public consultation. She is suggesting that we bring this all together in one website, making sure that people can consult with the Government in a variety of ways but through one particular avenue. The Minister has an open view on whether or not that would succeed.

Public consultations are a common - and extremely important - feature of public policy development. We want to ensure that as many stakeholders as possible are able to participate in consultations to allow us to take account of the widest possible range of views from citizens and businesses across Ireland. Indeed, in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, we are currently engaged in an extremely important consultation on strengthening Civil Service accountability and performance. Submissions in response to this consultation are due no later than 31 March 2014. All consultations now already have an online element, whether through e-mail or more sophisticated technology. The Oireachtas public petitions system, which allows for online submission of petitions to Parliament, is a good example of progress made in recent times.

The Public Service e-Government Strategy 2012-2015 includes a section on ensuring that e-Government is designed around real needs. The strategy notes that social networking and collaborative tools can help citizens and businesses to contribute and gain insights into the development and improvement of public service delivery. It also notes the requirement in the programme for Government for greater collaboration with citizens to ensure services are designed to meet their needs. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, which co-ordinates and reports on progress in implementing the e-Government strategy, is working with Departments and offices to achieve this priority goal.

As part of this work, the OGCIO is considering international experience, with interesting examples of online consultations. These include Australia, based on links to agency websites where discussion or consultation papers are published, as well as the UK, where petitions are created online via a single website - the Deputy's proposal - and assigned to departments for consideration. We are looking at international best practice and will consider how we can improve the system in Ireland. However, whatever solution is found must respect the extremely valuable inputs we receive through the chosen format of the citizen or business, and these inputs must not be stifled through the introduction of rigid online facilities.

I think the Deputy's proposal is a useful idea which is in keeping with the Government agenda on e-Government. I understand the Minister has already asked the OGCIO to include this proposal in its research and planning activities with a view to production of a pilot site over the coming months. The House and the Deputy will be informed of progress we are making on the pilot.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. There is no question in my proposal to move entirely to an online system, but it should be a significant part of communicating with citizens, because that is one of the means through which they are communicating.

In a consideration of the proposal, the e-tenders website is an excellent model, and I am thinking of something along those lines. The proposal has the potential to be a real piece of reform in improving the relationship between the public and State bodies.

Public consultation is potentially one of the most effective ways to give meaning to terms such as "engaging", "listening" and "involving the public". We talk about doing these concepts; it is time we put them into practice.

Public consultation is a fair way for citizens to engage with Departments and State agencies. As such, it protects the political system from accusations that it serves particular groups or interests. Public representatives are servants of the citizen and the introduction of the mechanism I propose would enhance this role. I ask the Department to consider allowing citizens not only to obtain information via the website but also to lodge submissions online.

I thank the Minister of State for his complimentary remarks. My suggestion is made to enable the State to better engage with citizens. If we achieve this objective, it will be a job well done.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy again for her constructive proposal, which I understand she has made on several previous occasions based on personal experience. We must reinvent the way in which consultation occurs to make it easier for citizens to become aware of what is being done in public policy across government. The pilot to which I referred has been organised by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and we are confident it will be up and running by the summer. The pilot will give rise to technical issues and an issue as to how much of the information citizens place online should be made available to other citizens.

The Deputy correctly noted the success of the e-Tenders web portal, which provides an online opportunity for small and large businesses, domestic and international, to pitch for public sector work. One of the first decisions taken by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, on taking office was to seek proposals on reform across the virtual system. Many of these proposals are being followed through.

While we are conscious that this area presents great opportunities, we must proceed on a step-by-step basis and in a way that ensures citizens who are consulting us and submitting views and proposals are certain that their views are being taken seriously and formatted in a manner in which they have confidence. I hope the pilot will give us a better sense of how to work through these issues when it is up and running in the summer.