§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans his Department has(a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information to which the public may wish to have access and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.
§ Sir John WheelerThe Department of the Environment (NI) has adopted a registered Internet addressing scheme and is in the process of building a strategic data communications network around this, initially for inter-departmental communication only. It has126W no plans at present to make available on the Internet press releases or other departmental information which the public may wish to access, nor has it any plans to use Internet as a means of increasing the openness of the Department.
Internet is one of several options currently under consideration by some departments as a possible means of providing their information systems needs for the future.