Accenture's fifth annual global e-government study

process for the implementation of the Public Services
Broker. The Public Services Broker will be an electronic
one-stop shop where the public can access and
apply for a wide range of state services and benefits.
It is at the heart of the new connected public service,
and its implementation will signal the beginning of
delivering new integrated eGovernment services in
Ireland. In developing the enabling infrastructure,
the Reach Agency also developed an inter-agency
messaging service to support the electronic exchange
of customer data among agencies in the public service.
The first service launched is the exchange of
birth registration data between the General Register
Office, the Department of Social and Family Affairs
and the Central Statistics Office. This service will
soon be extended to support the capture and dissemination
of death and marriage notification data
among a wider range of agencies.
As the government makes further progress, it
intends to publish its performance against the
action plan online through regular progress reports.
The most recent report shows considerable progress
in some areas. For example, all local authorities have
upgraded their systems to support the online planning
application and development control process.
The eTenders site (http://etenders.gov.ie) has been
extremely successful to date, as have a number of
other innovative services.
Another example is the Irish Revenue Online Service,
www.ros.ie. When launching new services, the Office
of the Revenue Commissioners has focused on
encouraging intermediaries, such as tax agents, to
avail themselves of its online filing application. The
strategy is paying off. According to the Revenue
Commissioners, the total number of transactions on
the site has tripled from 2002 to 2003, with 40 percent
of income tax and 17 percent of all revenue
relating to business taxes paid through the Revenue
Online Service last year. Payments through the system
since it was launched in September 2000 total
€13.5 billion.
payments. Farmers now have online access to this
system, which provides them with detailed information
on their applications for the past several years
and allows them to view and print up-to-date maps
and aerial photography of their land.
Other new services launched by the Irish government
since the beginning of 2004 will be worth
watching. In early February, the Minister for the
Environment, Heritage and Local Government
launched a service called Motor Tax On-line
(www.motortax.ie) that makes it possible for Irish
citizens to renew their motor tax 24 hours a day,
seven days a week using the Internet. Before, the
service was only offered in person at a local government
level. To use the new service, all that is needed
is a credit or debit card, Internet access and a unique
PIN number that will be mailed with the renewal
notice. After the online transaction is completed, the
new tax disk will be mailed, in most cases, by the
following day. The government hopes a substantial
portion of the more than €720m likely to be collected
in motor tax this year will come over the Internet.
Results from our citizen survey indicate Ireland has
work to do in promoting take-up of its online services
among citizens. Approximately 50 percent of
the population in Ireland are regular Internet users,
yet only 60 percent of these have ever even visited
a government website. The country’s low take-up of
its sophisticated online services points to a real need
for increased marketing.
While Ireland’s eGovernment maturity has leveled
off somewhat over the past two years, it is now
once again poised for strong growth. Most crucially,
it has re-charted its eGovernment path. The new
emphasis on greater interoperability and planned
implementation of broader measurement criteria
to assess eGovernment benefits should deliver
significant value for the citizen in coming years.
A new service for farmers was also launched in
2003. The iMap system developed by the Department
of Agriculture and Food supports more than €1 billion
in annual European Union agricultural subsidy
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