4. eGovernment

eGovernment is back on the agenda, with internet services from online voting registers to a new central portal for govern-ment services being planned as part of public sector reforms.

Where does Ireland stand in terms of eGovernment adoption? Quite well is the conclusion from a European benchmarking study. Ireland was one of just six European countries to achieve full online availability of key government services in 2010, according to the latest European Commission data. Along with Austria, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Sweden, Ireland scored 100% on 20 basic services.

Some 12 of the services, such as vehicle registration and health-related services, are aimed at citizens, while a further eight, such as corporate tax and environmental permits, are targeted at businesses. The services were measured against two indicators: full online availability and level of sophistication.

How Irish people interact with the authorities online

Eurostat figures show that while Ireland enjoys significant eGovernment availability, just 37% of Irish people are interacting with public authorities using the internet – a figure that has remained broadly static over the previous three years and still below the EU27 average of 41%.

Source: Digitizing Public Services in Europe; 9th Benchmark Measurement; Eurostat, Information Society Statistics, 2010.

Back to the contents of State of the Net 23