The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, announced the appointment of a 21-member commission to shape public policy on the Information Society yesterday following an 11-month delay.

Business groups and some political parties welcomed the appointments but there were claims that the delay of almost one year was indicative of Government complacency on the issue.

Dr Danny O'Hare, former president of Dublin City University and current chairman of the expert group on future skills, will chair the new commission.

The other 20 members are from a variety of backgrounds including education, technology, regional development, business and disabilities.

The commission will contribute to the formulation of Government policy by highlighting challenges and opportunities presented by the Information Society.

It will specifically work to identify areas of co-operation with other jurisdictions, including the creation of links with the Northern Ireland Information Age Initiative.

The commission will monitor the Republic's performance in its evolution of the Information Society and set up working groups to provide expert advice.

The commission will form one element of a new Government strategy on the adoption of technology in society. In June the Government agreed to form a Cabinet committee on the Information Society and a complementary e-strategy group of secretary-generals. It has also agreed to expand the Information Social Policy Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach.

"These new arrangements are designed to deliver a more coherent overall approach, at the highest level of Government, to the formulation of policy on a wide range of issues that increasingly cut across traditional Department boundaries," said Mr Ahern.

However, political parties and business groups criticised the lengthy delay in the appointment of a new commission.

Business lobby IBEC said the appointment almost a year after the last commission expired was indicative of "extreme Government complacency" on the issue.

Fine Gael Deputy, Mr Charlie Flanagan, said the Taoiseach should appoint a Minister of State with specific responsibility for e-commerce to renew confidence in the IT sector. "The Government appears to have lost its focus and leadership in the whole area of e-business and e-commerce, which it has trumpeted so loudly in the past," he added.

The full membership of the Information Society Commission is: Dr Danny O'Hare, former president of DCU; Ms Claire Cunnigham, Aura Internet Services; Dr Christopher Coughlan, Compaq; Mr Michael Byrne, Ennis Information Age Town; Mr Jerry Shanahan, MSF trade union; Ms Karen Hynes, Chambers of Commerce of Ireland; Mr Colm Reilly, Irish Internet Association; Ms Innes Bailey, National Adult Literacy Association; Dr Eamonn Conway, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick; Mr Robert Johnson, JLS Software Solutions; Ms Clodagh O'Donnell, IBM; Ms Dee Cari, Gartner Consulting; Ms Marion O'Neill, Kilkenny Information Age Town; Mr Pat O'Hara, Western Development Commission; Mr Christopher Took, Web developer; Mr Charles Stanley-Smith, Piercom; Mr Brian Lennon, St Oliver's College, Drogheda; Mr Donal Toolan, Forum of People with Disabilities; Ms Kathyrn Raleigh, IBEC; Mr Joe Horan, county manager, Meath; and Mr Peter Ryan, Department of the Taoiseach.