In a report on eGovernment, the provision of public services over the internet, John Purcell said services such as Motor Tax and the Revenue Online Service had been successful.
But the progress of many other projects was slower than planned, and a substantial number did not proceed or were abandoned. Scrapped services included online applications for housing grants, passports and driving licences. Mr Purcell said identity authentication processes had not been developed in several cases where plans were not implemented.
By mid-2006, only 53% of projects had been completed as planned, while 16% had been abandoned. The Health Service Executive suspended a plan for a 'national health portal' early in 2005 after €2m had been spent on the project.
The Comptroller said that there had been more success in delivering services for businesses than for individuals.
He also said that while many departments or agencies claimed to have achieved efficiencies from eGovernment, only a few provided hard evidence of substantial savings. €420m was spent on eGovernment projects in the 2002-2005 period.
The Comptroller found that Ireland performance in delivering online services was around the EU average, but some states were providing 'significantly higher' levels of service.
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Quelle/Source: RTE Business, 07.01.2008
