"The initial phase of the modernisation of the Civil Registration Service provides the necessary platform to meet citizens' expectations with regard to the availability of information, service access options, quality of service and privacy," said Minister for Health and Children Michael Martin, speaking at the launch of the project.
The part of the project that involves modernising the registration process is costing between EUR9 million and EUR10 million, including development costs, labour costs and the upgrading of networks in 80 Health Board offices around the country.
The project went to tender in 2000 and the following year the contract was awarded to Accenture, who beat off competition from PricewaterhouseCoopers and DMR Consulting, now Fujitsu Consulting. The fact that the government employs big multinationals to execute its e-government projects has angered elements of the tech industry in Ireland. "They [candidates] have to go through the public procurement process and there are strict rules governing that," Minister Martin assured ElectricNews but refused to be drawn further on the issue.
Under the first phase of the project, the public will not yet be able to register births, deaths, marriages and other life events on-line, but certificates for each of these events will be stored electronically in local registrars' offices across the country. Most registration offices operate in conjunction with the Health Boards.
It is hoped that storing certificates electronically will save time when members of the public are looking to retrieve them in the future, reducing the queues outside registrars' offices. Certificates of life events dating back to 1845 will be recorded electronically; this part of the project has been undertaken by staff in Roscommon.
Life events currently recorded include all births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages and adoptions that occur in the State. According to government figures, there are in excess of 110,000 events registered, some 500,000 certificates produced and 1.2 million searches or enquiries made every year.
The electronic registration of births and deaths was rolled out in Cork City on 8 September, in Mallow on 15 September and in Skibereen on 25 September. The system is soon to be introduced in Sligo, Limerick City, Newcastle West in Limerick and Nenagh in Tipperary, before being rolled out around the country.
Phase two of the project will involve an Internet database whereby the public can search for and request data on-line. "There is scope for registering on-line from home; that would be done through the Public Services Broker," said Paddy Doherty, assistant principal of the GRO modernisation programme with the Dpeartment of Social and Family Affairs. He said that such a system would also require corroborative evidence of life events, such as signatures from hospitals.
Quelle: electricnews.net
