Northern Ireland Assembly details website investments

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness – respectively, the first and deputy minister at Stormont – also confirmed website rationalisations are underway, which will soon see a number of central Northern Irish government sites rolled into the main government site for citizens, NI Direct.

 

Such a move will lead to a reduction in websites from 90 to around a core 25 and thus lead to savings in the overall cost of delivering public services in the Six Counties online.

 

"The completion of the consolidation project will further enhance the position of NI Direct as the key government channel for online citizen information,” promised the statement.

 

The answers also show that Northern Ireland spent £1.8 million in 2009/10 on sites for some nine departments.

 

The country’s Department of Trade and Enterprise had the biggest website expenditure last year (£626,420), well ahead of the next biggest spender, the Department for Social Development (£388,504). 

 

The Department of Education was the lowest, with just £5,000 worth of spend on its site.

 

However specifics of outlays for its Department of Finance and Personnel, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Department of Justice were not released.