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specific issues were also raised, about which I will engage with Deputies also. Over the years the Department has been asked why the PSC, which is State issued, cannot be used by a cardholder to prove identity if they wish to do so. Other Government documents, such … this manner. This is why we are introducing the Bill; it is to give people the choice, if they wish, to use the PSC for this purpose. The public services card is a token that is issued on the completion of a safe registration process

current form, owing to the provisions specifically in section 8, which seek to expand further the functions of the public services card, PSC. This is being done at a time when that very card and the legal underpinning are being called into question in court. The Minister will … know that his colleague, the former Minister, Regina Doherty, famously said in 2018 that the PSC was "mandatory" but "not compulsory". We have been asking ourselves at the committee - the Minister might not say in this House, but he might have scratched his head and asked - what

facial recognition by the Department would have to halt. To date, no High Court or Supreme Court judgment has determined whether the PSC scheme is lawful or unlawful. The governance, legislative basis and operations of the data associated with citizens through the PSC have been challenged repeatedly … committee, Dr. Elizabeth Farries of the UCD centre for digital policy, said it was "becoming effectively mandatory". Notwithstanding the concerns about the PSC and identity infrastructure as they currently exist, much of my core concern during our pre-legislative scrutiny focused on how the scheme may be applied

about this? In the Minster’s answers, he talked a lot about it being voluntary and people opting in. In truth, however, the PSC is no longer voluntary, particularly for those over 65. People do not have the choice to opt in. We are doing pre-legislative scrutiny … social welfare Bill. It is a fairly big piece of legislation and changes to the PSC are contained within it. I am putting the Minister on notice that those changes will be resisted by me and the Opposition more broadly because there is no trust when it comes

such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and other groups, are necessarily cautious about this. For example, when the public services card, PSC, was brought in, it was said that it would be mandatory but not compulsory, or vice versa. In the end, the requirement for those

Social Protection the number of applications for a Public Services Card processed at each Intreo centre, branch office and dedicated PPSN and PSC centre in each of the years 2024, 2025 and in the period 1 January 2026 to 1 July 2026, in tabular form. [66050/26

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Social Protection if he is aware of ongoing issues with the PSC online renewal system in accepting photographs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42366/25

scheme; the number of participants; the projected cost of introducing free travel to students namely those aged 18 to 24 who hold a PSC card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44027/25