A new strategy aimed at ensuring that every local authority in Ireland will have 90% of its services available online by 2030 has been launched.
The multi-million-euro Local Government Digital and ICT Strategy 2030 will focus on rolling out national online local Government services.
This will make planning applications, licences, permits, payments, community grants and motor tax available at the touch of a button and accessible via mobile phones.
The plan will prepare for the extension of early warning alerts, which are currently only available in some councils.
These will serve flooding and health alerts, as well as information from pollution and water quality sensors.
The strategy aims to give councils the facility to implement new technological initiatives which to date may not exist in all authorities.
This includes information about community facilities such as location and opening hours as well as events in parks, recreation centres, pitches, playgrounds and trails.
Digital portals will be installed in local authorities which will contain the full digital service catalogue and show user-relevant information.
A key aim is also to reduce the amount of time spent by council staff on paperwork, which should result in improved in-person access to local authority services for those who do not want to take the digital option.
"We know that local authorities are committed to putting people first but by aiming to deliver digital services that are accessible and user-friendly, this commitment is now accompanied by a real desire to speed up service delivery time, to allow for easier access, and to embrace innovative improvements," said Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Alan Dillon.
"I am convinced that this Digital ICT Strategy will make local services easier to reach and more responsive to all," Mr Dillon said.
The initiative is being developed by local authorities, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA).
Of the roughly 1,300 services provided to the public by the country's 31 local authorities, the strategy aims to place 90% of them online by the end of the decade.
"Everything provided by local authorities will be much simpler to use, with minimum clicks from the beginning to the end of a process," said Saab Khan, Chief Information Officer at the LGMA.
