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Thursday, 18th July 2024

Local authorities to make the bulk of their services available online

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Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Alan Dillon, right, launches The Local Government Digital & ICT Strategy 2030 Saab Khan, Chief Information Officer with the Local Government Management Agency. Photo: Finbarr O’Rourke.

Every local authority in Ireland will have 90 per cent of their roughly 1,300 services available online by 2030 under a multi-million-euro transformation of local Government online services.

The Local Government Digital & ICT Strategy 2030, launched on Thursday (July 18) by Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Alan Dillon, will radically change how the public interacts with county and city councils.

The plan is that national online local Government services – meaning planning applications, licences, permits, payments, community grants and motor tax will be available at the touch of a button and accessible via mobile ‘phones.

The strategy aims to give councils the facility to implement new technological initiatives which to date may not exist in all authorities.

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That includes information about community facilities such as location, opening hours and events in parks, recreation centres, pitches, playgrounds and trails.

Another facility which is set for full rollout across the country is the extension of early warning alerts - currently available in some councils – for flooding, health alerts such as e-coli warnings, as well as information from pollution and water quality sensors.

A key aim is also to reclaim the countless hours council staff spend on paperwork over the course of their working week, resulting in improved in-person access to the local authority services for those who do not want to take the digital option.

“We know that local authorities are committed to putting people first but by aiming to deliver digital services that are accessible and user-friendly, this commitment is now accompanied by a real desire to speed up service delivery time, to allow for easier access, and to embrace innovative improvements,” said Minister Dillon.

“I am convinced that this Digital ICT Strategy will make local services easier to reach and more responsive to all.” 

The initiative is being developed by local authorities, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA).

Digital portals will be installed in local authorities which will contain the full digital service catalogue and show user-relevant information.

For more information on the strategy, see: https://bit.ly/DigitalStrategy2030.

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