In Belfast on 20 April 2004, speaking to an audience mainly of public service executives, I said:

The increasing availability of the internet offers the best hope of bringing the public sector closer to its customers, and governments across Europe should move the development of e-government up their agenda.

It is fortuitous that at the same time there is a growing realisation of the central importance of good customer service in the public sector, there should emerge a powerful new tool for making this happen. I believe that this century will see a decisive shift in the nature of the relationship between citizen and government, and the vehicle for that shift will be the internet.

In delivering public services, the internet offers two great advantages: its ubiquity and its speed. The delivery of public services has always suffered from the challenge that they must reach into the farthest corners of the country served. This has presented real difficulties for service providers and for customers alike, and is one of the main hurdles that face the public service in getting close to its customers.

With the internet, the problem of distance magically disappears. Literally everyone in the country, provided they have internet access, is as close to the centre as anyone else. No longer need people in remote rural areas feel cut off from the centre of power.

This effect is strengthened by the psychological difference between going to a government office, or receiving a communication from a government office, and calling up that office on your own initiative from the comfort of your own home. All of a sudden, government is coming to you rather than the other way around. And that is how it should be, since the fundamental aim of the public sector is to serve the public.

Equally, the internet offers a revolutionary step forward in the time-scale involved in dealing with government. Traditionally, the wheels of administration have tended to move slowly, and perhaps are perceived by the general public to move even more slowly. I have found, over a lifetime in customer service, that speed is of the essence in satisfying customer needs. If anything, this is becoming more so, in step with the increasingly hectic pace of our modern lives.

Public sector organisations, through careful planning, can ensure that much of the interaction between them and their public takes place instantly. This is particularly so in providing information. The internet makes it possible for any organisation to make available all of its standard information, no matter how detailed, at the fingertips of its customers - and not only that, but to keep it constantly up-to-date, with changes being reflected immediately in what the customer can access.

Similarly, there are many routine interactions between citizen and government that can be re-organised to happen in real time, and so cut out entirely the delay involved when the application is processed by conventional means. In the Republic, since last month it is possible for people to renew their car tax instantly over the internet. This gives a flavour of the kind of thing that is possible, and it should be extended over the full range of public services as soon as possible. But I have to say that while I warmly welcome the EU's e-government initiative, I deplore the snail's pace at which it is being carried out by Member States. This lack of speed reflects a lack of genuine commitment, which in turn reflects a lack of awareness of how important e-government is in transforming Europe into a knowledge-based society.

The internet also offers the citizen a way of getting closer to the legislative process, which affects the daily lives of all of us in profound ways. In recent years there has been much talk about how people today, particularly young people, are simply not interested in the political process and do not consider that their parliament is important to them.

This lack of interest in the parliamentary process is reflected in dwindling media coverage, which more and more tends to focus only on the confrontational aspect of politics, neglecting almost entirely the more routine but arguably more important work that goes on all the time.

This is where the internet can help, in bringing the doings of parliament closer to the people. With the help of the internet, ordinary citizens can 'look over the shoulders' of parliamentarians as they deliberate. They can follow the progress of legislation through the various stages of debate. They can watch their government being held to account by opposition and independent members.

For the future health of democracy, it is important that the operation of our parliaments across Europe not only take place in the full public gaze, but also that the public take a real interest in what is going on. The internet provides the vital link that can make this greater closeness a reality.

I look forward to the day when all those in public service, whether they be parliamentarians or administrators, put the challenge of keeping close to their customers at the very top of their agenda. Only by doing so can the true purpose of public service be fully realised.