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must be removed. It must be made explicitly clear that a person should have access to any service available without using a public services card other than the Department of Social Protection. This must reflect the current legal position arising from the agreement between the Data Protection … Commission and the Department of Social Protection. If enacted, section 8 would lead to the public services card becoming a de facto general-purpose ID card. The Government is making the public services card mandatory by stealth. I will give the Minister a personal example. My driver

that the public services card as an identity card has had a controversial past in this Chamber and outside of it since its introduction as a pilot by then Labour Minister Joan Burton in 2011. Today, 15 years later, there are 3.25 million cards in circulation … Department of public expenditure and reform: ... was to become an all-in-one public identification database, ... all of which is viewable by everybody and every government department. ... The problem is that, as things stand, the underlying database of the public services card ... is essentially a 360 degree view

service cardholders to be able to use their cards, of their own volition and on a purely voluntary basis, as a form of identity. Currently, only public sector bodies specified in law can request and accept the public services card as a form of identity. If any other … services card at his or her own discretion as a form of identity for a purpose that is not a transaction with a specified body, that is not a public sector body that is specified in Schedule 5 of the Act. It clarifies that the public services card

taking into consideration the recommendations brought forward by the committee ahead of Committee Stage of the Bill. A change to the public services card is an important part of this Bill and has been subject of a lot of debate in the past. Witnesses before the committee raised … Public Services Card be maintained in practice and monitored on [an] ongoing basis, to review that individuals are not disadvantaged where they choose not to use the card as a form of identification. Given these, I seriously question whether this is necessary. The public services card

legislative scrutiny of the social welfare Bill yesterday. There are initiatives contained in that Bill for a card holder to use their public service card for identity purposes at their own discretion in exactly the same way they can do with a driving licence or a passport. That … their own discretion and judgment. The public service card currently does not display card holders' dates of birth. The proposed changes provide for a card holder to opt in to have their date of birth inscribed on their public service card. If they so wish, they can have

Minister for Social Protection on 2 July. The report contains 24 recommendations covering areas such as digital public services, the public services card and the operation of the social welfare appeals office. I acknowledge the work of committee members in producing the report and I welcome the fact … retirement allowance scheme, which closed to new entrants almost 20 years ago. There are also important changes proposed in relation to the public services card. I particularly welcome the proposal that a person can, at their own discretion, use their public services card as a form of identification

pass in its 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 … card and its use and to make it into a de facto national ID card without the proper security features that any such card should have. Though the Government has consistently tried to row back on the former Minister, Regina Doherty's statements, insisting that the card

takes in the first place. I will return to that, and I know the Minister is prioritising it. I turn to the public services card. Its establishment was messy. As an old Irish saying goes, "If I were going there, I would not start from here." I have … Anyone without a current Irish passport cannot register through the MyGovID app, so they need an appointment in person. The most common public services card issue raised with me in my office is simply getting that appointment. The Minister will know that I have raised this on many

thought out and there has been no consultation with stakeholders. I have heard some of the Taoiseach’s party colleagues mention a public service card maybe being at the heart of this. Given that the Government has already broken the law twice with a public service card … society providing materials like passports, etc., to social media companies. For all the critics there are of social media, social media is a public good. I have a different suggestion, and that is to stop young people having smartphones. That is easier to regulate and provide under

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. It is the evidence of a substantial level of assurance … person's identity. One of the benefits of the public services card is that it is available free of charge. There is no fee associated with getting or renewing a PSC. I am very mindful of the cost a person incurs when they need a passport or driving

Anyone who had needed State services in the last while knows that, in order to access them, particularly online, a public services card is required. We need to just knock the idea that it is voluntary on its head straight away. We know there are huge issues … Some of that delay is down to him but there is also the fact that there was a requirement for a public services card. There has to be a greater element of truth around the fact that this is becoming a requirement, an almost requirement or something where

card, they are simply locked out of the scheme. When the Minister says that something will be voluntary, such as the public services card, it is not the case. The only thing people are volunteering to do is not have their lawful entitlement to the free travel scheme

good track record with this technology. For example, similar technology is used to scan and verify biometric data on people's public services cards. According to the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, one third of applications need to be checked by a human in order to ensure everything … seems when a garda kills someone, there is no investigation that everybody can see and ask questions about, is held in full public view and there is no trial. There should be a trial of the gardaí who carried out that killing that day. Why is there

reform. The postmasters of Ireland want to provide additional services, such as car tax renewal, renewal of licences and of passports and public services card replacements. All of these things can be delivered in the local community but it is important they are allowed and that the services

Minister will be delighted to know that my question is straightforward. It relates to the expansion of the digital ID, or the public services card as it is known. The Minister will be well aware that this card has been mired in controversy. A succession of Ministers have

others, 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

digital services. We will continue to make our services available on an optional basis. Equally, there is a level engagement with the public services card. There are a total of 3.4 million verified MyGovID accounts. In 2025 alone, we had over 44 million logins. That gives the Deputy

ways and means of doing that by providing access to national services locally, such as collection points for certain types of public service cards, driver's licences, etc., or as a way of getting cash or foreign exchange even if it is by appointment the day before. These

concerned about the whole dental service. There used to be over 1,200 dentists working privately who offered to provide a public service to medical card holders, but that figure has dropped to under 600. Since 2012 or 2013, the number of dentists employed within … dropped from over 300 to slightly over 250. Even though there has been a huge increase in our population, the number of dentists publicly employed by the HSE is less than it was ten years ago. We need to deal with this issue. Some people are waiting

opted out. We have gone from 1,452 down to around 600 dentists who are now providing care for medical card patients. The public service waiting list is increasing because of the additional demand now that the private practices are not offering a service. I do not understand

that children get the preventive and corrective treatment that they need, when they need it; — invest in public dental services which will prioritise school screening and medical card holders, including the development of a public-only dentist contract; — modernise the DTSS and integrate this with the GP Visit … Card to widen access to preventative primary care services on the basis of need, and not the ability to pay; — revise Smile agus Sláinte to include the development of public dental services and publish a timebound implementation plan; — establish a multi-disciplinary working group on the development

getting seen by a dentist if you have a medical card. Private dentists will tell you that it is not worth their while and that they actually lose money if they participate in the medical card scheme. This has been going on for years … Government is sitting on its hands and is doing nothing about it. We need proper investment in public dental services, proper school screening, proper medical card services and a workforce plan for dentistry to get more people into the public service just to meet the needs of children

years for orthodontic treatment. It gets worse. Following a parliamentary question I submitted last year, in 2025, the HSE admitted that the public dental service was still only targeting children who were in second or sixth class in 2019. That means many children in counties Wicklow and Wexford … plan to cut the waiting lists fast, modernise the DTSS, restart school screening immediately, integrate this with the GP visit card, invest properly in public dental services, expand access to dental nurses and hygienists and introduce a dental Act. I ask him to vote for our motion

with technological advances. Another example of this is that TFI currently has five different smartphone apps for different public transport services, including a journey planner app, a Leap card top-up app, a taxi driver database app, an app for public transport tickets and an app for local

choice and the capacity was there in the public health service, they would not insure and they are certainly hard pressed to insure themselves. They do so because they do not have confidence in the public health system to deliver healthcare for them when and where they need … reflect on Sláintecare. I am a publicly funded doctor. I have worked mainly in public practice with the medical card system. I believe in a public health service but I believe we need to reflect on Sláintecare. The capacity is not there. It is difficult

Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason the renewal of public services cards needs to be done in person and no longer via phone or online; if he will consider facilitating online or over the phone renewals for public service cards, given

Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection the timetable for the extension of online appointment booking for Public Services Card registration to all offices at which that service is provided; and the criteria applied in determining the order in which offices are brought onto that facility

Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Social Protection the offices at which an appointment for Public Services Card registration may be booked online through MyWelfare.ie; the offices at which registration is available on a walk-in basis only; and the number of such appointments booked online

Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for 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

Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on the legislation to allow public services cards to be accepted as a form of identification when engaging with financial institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54416/26

Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection if the database of personal information associated with those who hold a public services card, and accompanying biometric data, has been used as part of any application of artificial intelligence, either as training data or as a subject

Social Protection to provide any analysis of use cases and business cases formulated by his Department regarding expanding the use of the Public Services Card prior to the initiation of the Social Welfare and Other Matters Bill (2026); and if he will make a statement on the matter

asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on any planned changes to the SAFE registration process for acquiring a Public Services Card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31240/26

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of public service cards which were issued or renewed to adult applicants in each year from 2017 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31704/26

State pension (Contributory) and State pension (Non-Contributory); the number of these recipients who do not have a currently valid public services card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31705/26

advance of any Cabinet memo; whether he is aware that the DPC ruled in June 2025 that the SAFE2 mechanism underpinning the Public Services Card and MyGovID was unlawful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30137/26

bodies; the way in which any such approach will be fully compliant with recent findings from the Data Protection Commission regarding the public services card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26604/26

Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if an up-to-date public services card can be issued to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16990/26

Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Social Protection the options available to a person (details supplied) in obtaining a public services card needed to process a passport application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12796/26

Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the plans in place in his Department to change the public services card provision, given data protection concerns of various stakeholders. [2753/26

Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide the conclusion of the Data Protection Commission’s investigation into the public services card using facial-matching technology as a means for his Department’s processing of biometric/identity data; the provisions that will be made to bring

Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount of expenditure to date on the creation and operation of the public services card; the amount expended in relation to regulatory and legal challenges regarding the card; if he accepts that the card records biometric data

identification of a valid lawful basis for the Department’s processing of biometric data in connection with the registration of new public service cards; the requirement to cease processing of such data within 9 months (in the absence of the Department of Social Protection identifying such a valid

Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount of expenditure to date regarding the creation and operation of the Public Services Card; the amount expended in relation to regulatory and legal challenges regarding the card; if he accepts that the card records biometric data

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection to review the requirement for photo ID when applying for a public service card, as many people do not have a passport or driver's licence; if an alternative will be offered; if identity confirmation by a garda

Protection the reason it is necessary for persons to present themselves at a welfare office to have a photo taken for a public service card; if there are plans to have this available to do online [SUBSTITUTE]; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20866/25

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will address an issue regarding public service cards (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19010/25

contact all those aged 70 years or over in receipt of free travel; the way they will receive a FREE TRAVEL COMPANION PUBLIC SERVICES CARD; if his Department has commenced same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19261/25

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason that the renewal of a public service card needs to be done in person and no longer via phone or online, appreciating the challenge this poses for elderly citizens; and if he will make a statement

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the details of the requirements for having State identification documents, for example, passport, public services card, driver's licence and so on, issued with names in Irish, should the applicant choose to use the language; if these requirements