As a Government, we are committed to ensuring that modern technologies are used to improve the way services are organised and delivered to our citizens and for the effioent administration of services. The publication of this consultation document on the modernisation of the Civil Registration Service is a major milestone in the history of civil registration in Ireland. We welcome it. Civil registration was first introduced in Ireland in 1845. While the systems put in place at that time have served us well, it is widely recognised that there is a need to update and modernise them. The Government has approved expenditure of some £7 million for the Civil Registration modernisation programme. The proposed level of expenditure demonstrates our commitment to improving and modernising the provisi on of public services and the delivery of a quality customer service . The implementation of a modern Civil Registrat ion Service is at the heart of prov1ding better public services to cit1zens through the Government's modernisation action programme. lt is also a key building block underpinning the 1ntegration of public service delivery and eGovernment objectives of providing more convenient access to information and services. We feel that the approach being proposed in this document will enable the Civil Registration Service to fulfil and develop 1ts ro le as a VItal public serviCe prov1der.