More evidence of public waste. More evidence why the two separate eGovernment action plans in 1999 and 2002, promoted by the Taoiseach's Office, have failed. It would be a wild exaggeration to say that they failed because of excessive ambition. The most damning findings by Comptroller & Auditor General John Purcell concerning public waste on eGovernment projects involved a lack of effective oversight by the Taoiseach's department and a failure to set measurable targets in the initial strategy. The cost of the various programmes, designed to provide public services via the internet, amounted to €420million by the end of 2005. Plans were then shelved and it is only now that, following a hiatus of two years, a new strategy is being developed. Poor planning has bedevilled this Government throughout its various incarnations.
New technology and expensive projects were regarded as short-cuts to administrative efficiency in the booming years of the Celtic Tiger. There was no shortage of money. But rigorous planning, preparation and oversight were lacking, as was a realistic expectation of what might be achieved. As a result, catastrophic mistakes were made. We were lumbered with useless e-voting machines. A hugely-expensive computerised payments system for the health services still doesn't work properly. And now we are learning about inadequacies in the eGovernment project.
There were some successes. The Revenue Commissioners, the Motor Taxation Office, along with the Departments of Social and Family Affairs and Agriculture and Food embraced technology and encouraged the public to use it. Elsewhere, online services were largely confined to business, rather than individual users. Schemes were begun and abandoned. And while many departments and agencies claimed to have achieved efficiencies, the C&AG found little hard evidence of substantial savings.
Mr Purcell's job is to examine whether Government departments and State bodies are using their resources economically and efficiently. In this instance, he found that poor planning, unrealistic expectations, inter-departmental friction and weak central oversight contributed to a poor and wasteful outcome in the development of eGovernment. The Taoiseach was in charge of overseeing these areas within government. And the project was put on hold before the election. Now that it has been revived, it is vital that the shortcomings and mistakes of the past are not repeated. Careful planning, feasibility studies, tight financial control and cross-departmental co-operation will be required if the benefits of internet-accessible public services are to be made generally available.