The Irish Government is to start transforming its paper based Civil Registration System, setting up a national "life event" database as part of efforts to provide birth, death and marriage certificates online, it announced on 7 October 2003. Irish ministers hailed the initiative as a "major milestone" to improve the delivery of public services and said it would help move the country's e-government agenda forward.
While ministers greeted the scheme's launch with enthusiasm, they made no mention of ongoing delays that the project had suffered. Initially it was due to be available in Spring 2002, but had been held up amid lengthy negotiations with public service unions.
Known as the "e-Enabling of Life Event Data", the scheme incorporates four key projects:
- the processing of child benefit electronically
- redesigning the civil registration system
- an inter agency messaging service
- allocating people with a "personal public services number".
The civil registration revamp is costing the Government around €10m and involves upgrading IT networks in 80 health board offices round the country. It is supplied by Accenture.
Mary Coughlan, minister for social and family affairs said that the scheme aims to simplify the civil registration process.
"For parents this means less form filling, less queuing for certificates and the timely provision of child benefit payment at a time when they have additional expenses."
Coughlan said that it is already delivering an improved service in Cork, one of the first areas to adopt the new system.
"On Monday a child was born in a maternity hospital and the birth was registered in Cork. On Tuesday [the] Child Benefit section in the Department was notified and on Wednesday payment was issued to the mother who was still in the maternity hospital."
After setting up electronic registration systems, the next stage of the project is to make data publicly available online.
Quelle: Kablenet
