THE GOVERNMENT HAS committed to launching a “digital wallet” for essential documents and a “life events portal” website where people can engage with public services for events including births, deaths, marriages and divorces. 

From major life events to small things like putting your child’s name down for school with the Department of Education, the website will be a one-stop shop for dealing with public services. 

A ‘digital wallet’ where you can store digital versions of your birth cert, driver’s license and other official documents is also expected to be live and available to the public by the year’s end. 

Ossian Smyth, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure today said that he is delighted that the Government has committed to funding and developing the two projects, which he has been working on following a public consultation process. 

He said the life events portal is for “significant moments in your life when you need to deal with many different parts of the Government, like when you have a baby. 

“You need to register the child’s name, maybe apply for child benefit, register immunisations, put their name down for school – that usually involves using many different websites, now you can do it in one place with this portal,” he said. 

Smyth said that he recently lost someone close to him, and experienced what it is like to deal with different Government services to inform them of that change. 

He said that the online portal will simplify that process. 

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said that these projects are being funded by the Public Services Innovation fund – which is a pot of €14m - €15m – and that they are expected to cost several million to develop and roll out. 

Smyth said that the digital wallet – which is being tested through a pilot scheme currently – will see a digital version of people’s driver’s license on their phones, which will be acceptable to gardaí. 

He added that the department is in talks with the Attorney General to assess whether any legislation will be needed to support that change for gardaí. 

Marriage certificates and other credentials will also be stored in the digital wallet. 

Donohoe said that the Government will continue to treat people’s date with respect and handle it responsibly, but he added that there is significant public demand for access to services to be digitised and simplified.