Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Finance if the recommendations identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on e-Government have been put into action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24183/09]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of services that are available to the public through the reach and broker system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24184/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 80 and 81 together.

The Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General published its Special Report No 58 on eGovernment in October 2007. The Report highlighted that while initially there was considerable impetus behind eGovernment and rapid progress was made, this had slowed in recent years. The main recommendations of the Comptroller & Auditor General Report covered eGovernment projects, the Public Service Broker, and managing the development of eGovernment.

In summary, the Report recommended that public bodies should learn from the experiences of other EU Member States that appear to have made better progress than Ireland; that improved management processes for eGovernment should be implemented; that eGovernment projects should have measurable objectives, time and cost targets; that central encouragement, guidance and support should be provided to public bodies, particularly those not able to make good progress; and that a stronger reporting system should be implemented.

As the Deputy will be aware, there has been a renewed focus on eGovernment since the publication of the Comptroller & Auditor General Special Report. The Government decided last year that the services included in the European Union's eGovernment Benchmark and the services included in the agreed Dáil Motion on 30 April 2008 should be the initial priorities for progress. Good progress has been achieved with a number of these and work is ongoing with others. At this stage, approximately 70 services are fully available online through www.gov.ie. Numerous others are available through Local Authorities. Additionally, forms can be downloaded electronically for hundreds more. The publication of the Report of the Taskforce on the Public Service, "Transforming Public Services", in November 2008 has reinforced this focus on eGovernment.

Regarding the Recommendations in Chapters 2 ("Outturn on eGovernment Projects") and 4 ("Managing the Development of eGovernment") of the Comptroller & Auditor General Special Report, two Circulars have been issued by my Department. Circular 2/09 (http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/circulars/circular2009/circ022009.pdf) sets out the arrangements for IT and telecommunications expenditure on projects, systems and infrastructures ("ICT") in the public sector. These arrangements are part of a range of initiatives designed to reduce risk and achieve better value for money in terms of ICT-related expenditure.

Circular 6/09 (http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/circulars/circular2009/circ62009.pdf) sets out the arrangements for monitoring and reporting on progress with eGovernment. This Circular requires all Departments, Offices, Agencies, and all non-commercial public bodies and authorities to develop detailed eGovernment plans by the end of June 2009 which set out all ongoing, planned and potential eGovernment projects. These plans will be approved by each organisation's senior management and submitted by the Accounting Officer to the Department of Finance for evaluation. Such plans will be set in the context of the wider modernisation programme underlying the need to improve the quality of customer service; to drive administrative and process simplification; to improve value for money in a tightening fiscal environment; to improve Ireland's standing in international benchmarking and public perception; and to improve the public's perception of ICT usage in the public service. This work will also determine which services are not amenable to electronic interactions and why that is the case. These plans must include key details on such matters as ownership; schedules/timelines; facilities being offered; costs; benefits/impacts; capacity of the organisation to deliver; monitoring arrangements; and progress to date. The plans will be subjected to regular monitoring by my Department and reporting to Government every six months.

My Department has also established a website, www.ict.gov.ie, specifically for civil and public service bodies. This website provides a range of resources and guidance to help ensure that eGovernment services are developed in accordance with the relevant Circulars.

With regard to the recommendations in Chapter 3 ("Developing the Public Service Broker") of the C&AG Report, the Deputy will be aware that a review of Reach and the Public Services Broker was undertaken throughout 2007 and submitted to Government in March 2008.The Government noted the recommendations of the review and approved the transfer of the functions relating to the operation of the Public Services Broker to my Department. Since assuming responsibility for the Public Services Broker, my Department has simplified its operation, and integrated its portal with other Government websites such as www.gov.ie, www.citizensinformation.ie, and www.ros.ie. My Department has also implemented a simplified technology solution for the electronic publication of death events to civil and public service. This solution provides a way for authorised public service staff to access records of all recently-registered deaths in a simple and secure way. It is now being used by 6 civil service Departments and Offices, 20 Local Authorities, and a number of HSE functions. Plans are in place to extend this solution to also facilitate the electronic publication of birth and marriage events subject to business needs being identified and the necessary regulatory changes being implemented. My Department has also assisted a number of bodies with the development of electronic forms for their services. Finally, my Department has commenced work on the integration of customer identity data from six national sources around the civil and public service, using the "Public Service Identity dataset". Once completed, this will allow public bodies to better establish the identity of persons in order to maximise re-use of such data and to aid the process of administrative simplification. It is also hoped that this may provide a platform to facilitate online identity authentication.

My Department is providing the Cabinet Committee on Transforming Public Services with regular updates on developments and progress. Additionally, it is providing the Government with comprehensive progress reports every six months. The first such report was submitted in March 2009.

Finally, on foot of the plans received from civil and public service bodies, my Department intends to develop brochures later this year to explain to people what services are available online, how they can use them, and how they will benefit them. I am satisfied that the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General are being implemented fully.