Government's goal of making all public services available on the internet by 2005 will not be met, writes Jamie Smyth

Cutbacks in public funding and budget reassessment are delaying several key projects which sit at the heart of the State's e-government plan.

These include the "public services broker"; a key piece of technical infrastructure would act as a single point of contact for all public services and should offer a day and night service, seven days a week.

It would also act as a data vault for customer information for identification purposes, and would store credit card details to enable citizens to pay for services online.

Most of the important e-government services, including online passport and driving licence applications, will depend on the broker to authenticate users. Therefore, the lengthy delay in the public services broker is also pushing back the delivery of ancillary projects.

The publication this week of the New Connections Progress Report showed 57 projects are delayed. It also highlighted that there was a need to "refine" the target of 2005 for the delivery of online services.

In an interview with The Irish Times yesterday, Ms Mary Hanafin, Government chief whip and Minister of State with responsibility for the Information Society, confirmed the Government would now prioritise certain projects, but she said the broker would go ahead. Much has been already done but there is more to do, she added in a nod to her party's slogan in the last election.

Ms Hanafin said the public broker had been delayed because it was a "pioneering project" and it was important to do it right and ensure value for money.

Concerns have already been expressed by the Department of Finance over the €6 million spent to date on the project, and a review of the project's funding is one reason for the delay. The impact of the broker on the operation of the public services is also being reviewed by the Cabinet subcommittee which deals with the Information Society, according to sources within the Government.

Ms Hanafin said a new group comprising assistant secretaries across Government departments would meet shortly to refine the e-government strategy. This group will set specific target dates and work out the cost of implementing the range of projects.

The disclosure this week that a new computer system for the Irish Blood Transfusion Board is three years late and will cost twice as much as expected highlights the importance of tight cost control. The system, for controlling blood bank activities, was budgeted at €4.26 million, but the projected final cost stands at €9.04 million.

Likewise, the Garda Pulse computer system, which links more than 150 Garda stations, was initially supposed to cost €30 million, but has cost €45 million to date. Therefore, it is no surprise that the broker, which was initially forecast to cost €14 million, is under scrutiny, according to industry and Government sources.

Meanwhile, although Ms Hanafin says budget cuts in IT are not delaying the key projects, other sources in Government say the sharp drop in funding allocated for IT projects in the last budget has slowed some projects.

Figures released by the Department of Finance show funding for e-government projects will fall this year by €2 million, despite increasing costs due to inflation.

The 57 delayed e-government projects are undoubtedly factors which helped knock the Republic off the top of the European league table in terms of the amount of services online this month. The European Commission, which ranked the Republic second behind Sweden, also noted that other states were catching up quickly.

But some experts working in the e-government sector believe moderate delays in the e-government strategy could be fortuitous.

Mr Seamus Mulconry, a consultant with Accenture - a firm which has undertaken considerable work for the Government - says the delays should enable it to learn from mistakes that have already been made by other states.

"E-government should be seen as a catalyst for modernisation of the public service... It is really not about putting all services online. The New Connections report was about a major transformation in the way government operates."

Evidence from analysing the e-government strategy pursued in Britain shows that just because services go online doesn't mean that citizens actually use the internet to access them, says Mr Mulconry.

He believes the Government may concentrate on delivering public services over the telephone in the near term rather than over the internet. Although businesses generally wanted to conduct business over the internet, he says.

Recent statistics which show less than half of households have access to a computer with an internet connection tends to back up this view.

The e-government strategy envisages that people without computers in the home with an internet connection could access public services by visiting new one-stop-shop offices or use the phone. But it remains unclear the extent to which these offices and call centres will be rolled out nationwide.

Ms Hanafin said yesterday the concept of the one-stop-shop, which is currently being piloted in Donegal, was unlikely to be rolled out speedily. Rather, local authorities were likely to make decisions to move ahead with these projects on their own. But these crucial policy issues will probably be debated by the review and refinement group over coming months.