IN four days' time our electorate will be choosing a government to lead this country for up to five years - possibly until the year 2002.
While the information society hasn't become a major issue in the election campaign, the next government will face several major decisions on how computers and communications networks are used in areas such as education and the economy, by private firms and public sector organisations, and in the day to day lives of all its citizens.
What specific initiatives and what kind of leadership are the candidates offering on these issues - what particular strategies would they adopt to prepare the country for the "information society"? Have their canvassers even heard of the information society?
Here, then, are questions on about a dozen topics you might ask the politicians on your doorstep, in the three remaining days of the campaign.
PCs in schools: Several parties have promised more computers in schools. How many is this candidate promising, by when? Are these new PCs, or outdated/broken/recycled ones from the business and State sectors? What is the estimated cost per machine? What is the total cost and would the money come from the Department of Education's budget?
For primary schools, is this number of machines an average, or literally for every class? Is the ratio the same for every age group - from five year olds to 25 year olds? Have five year olds better things to do with their time, or do the researchers know better?
Teacher training: How may teachers would be trained to use these computers and computer networks, by what year, and at what cost? Does this include one teacher schools?
Schools online: Several parties have also promised "free connections" to the Internet for all schools and libraries. By when? Does this include free high speed modems - and free installation and rental of extra telephone lines? Would their phone calls to Internet service providers also be free - and how much would this then cost Telecom Eireann?
Meanwhile what happened to colleges and universities in all of this, and distance/adult education?
Telecom tariffs: Are peak rate local telephone charges stunting the development of the Internet and information networking in Ireland? If so, what will the candidate do about it?
Should the licences of Telecom Eireann, Esat and other telecom operators include a levy to support measures to ensure universal online access?
Net awareness: How prepared is Ireland for the information society, compared with other Western European countries? Are we in the top three countries, the top five or top 10? (This is a trick question: according to the Information Society report we're 13th).
The Info Society report: Will the candidate's party be backing the main recommendations of the Information Society Steering Committee's recent report?
Does it agree with the report's proposed flagship projects, in particular the proposal for a "digital park"? If so, how much should be spent on it by the year 2000? If not, why not?
Tax reliefs: Should there be tax reliefs for buying home computers? Would this be an equitable measure?
How much of existing spending on roads should be diverted towards subsidising and promoting "telecommuting" - using computer networks to move the work to workers (rather than the workers to the work)? Who should be entitled to such subsidies - employees, employers or both?
Leinster House online: Will the candidate's party put all Oireachtas debates online, freely accessible by all citizens within 24 hours of the debates taking place - and in an easily searchable format? Will this be in place before the end of the year?
Does the candidate use e mail? And if he or she is a sitting TD, how much e mail comes from constituents per week?
Minister for Science: Who is their party's main spokesperson on matters relating to our digital future? Should there be a science seat in the Cabinet? If so, (a) would the Minister be assigned a target level of basic R&D as a percentage of GNP; (b) as last week headlines put it, has the White Paper on science "done more harm than good"?
Year 2000: Are State departments adequately preparing for the Year 2000 software problem - and European Monetary Union? How much should be budgeted to tackle these two problems, and what should the State's role be?
Privacy: Should individuals and companies be free to use whatever encryption products they choose to protect their privacy and safeguard their transactions?
Will the candidate oppose attempts by the EU or elsewhere to force Irish people into using flawed encryption with a "back door" for governments?
What safeguards does the consumer deserve in "calling line identification" system's where your phone number is broadcast to the party you are calling? Would the party introduce legislation to ensure that this feature is disabled by default and that the subscriber can turn it on and off easily?
What would the candidate do to improve the Data Protection Act?
Does the party use a database of constituents? If so, where did it obtain the information, and is it registered with the Data Protection Commissioner?
Where in the Web: What's the party's Web address? Er, hold on a second: have the canvassers even heard of the World Wide Web?