E-government must keep human link

The challenge for e-government is to make maximum use of available technology while ensuring that citizens can still get direct access to public officials, the Minister of State with responsibility for the Information Society, Ms Mary Hanafin, said yesterday.

Ms Hanafin was speaking at the publication of a report - E-government: More Than an Automation of Government Services - by the Information Society Commission. She said many citizens seeking assistance from elected representatives were not adopting new technology.

"The key issue is not to remove personal contacts," Ms Hanafin said. She gave, as an example of how not to use technology, the machines that answer phones and give people options to select. "People are getting more and more frustrated by that," she said. Ms Hanafin said she was glad the report being published was placing an emphasis not on technology but on "making Government and democracy work better".