"Outgoing Ministers Mary Hanafin and Dermot Ahern are always boasting about their wonderful e-government developments, including recently, an e-cabinet announcement whereby Ministers will not have to carry bags of documents to cabinet meetings but will have the cabinet papers readily available on new terminals at the cabinet table or on their laptops", he said.
"Public Representatives like myself are now long familiar with contacting the local authorities (in my case Dublin City and Fingal), the Revenue Commissioners, the Dept. of Social and Family Affairs, the Health Boards and other departments by e-mail seeking information or making reports on behalf of our constituents. It is astounding but typical that this fast contact facility has not been extended to include An Garda Siochana, perhaps the most important nationwide government agency.
"Minister MacDowell should hang his head in shame and he also should be moved on in the forthcoming reshuffle (along with Dermot Ahern and Mary Hanafin, Ministers for Communications and e-Government respectively). It shows once more that Minister MacDowell, who has opinions on every department of government, is incapable of running his own.
Deputy Broughan says he is well aware that efficient screening software would be necessary as Garda Stations go online to prevent correspondents wasting Garda time with spam or nuisance emails. "This applies to every government office which is already online however, including the offices of public representatives. But online email facilities could also be very valuable to keep regular contact between urban Neighbourhood Watch and rural Area Alert teams and community and other local Gardai. It would surely also encourage citizens to report crime, given the huge number of crimes (especially to property) clearly unreported and which appear in opinion poll surveys".
Deputy Broughan believes that it should also be possible that email crime reports from the public could be automatically logged onto the Garda Pulse computer system. He also hopes that the installation of email facilities at Garda stations has not been deliberately delayed because the present government is fearful that the public may become aware of the true much higher levels of crime in Ireland. (Deputy Broughan had earlier suggested in Dail Eireann to Minister MacDowell that the Central Statistics Office and not the Garda Commissioner should report on crime statistics, a proposal which the Minister now seems to be adopting).
The Labour TD urges the next Ministers for Communications, e-Government (and possibly Justice) to urgently address this matter and bring An Garda Siochana's electronic contact facilities into the 21st Century".
Quelle: Politics.ie, 17.09.2004
