Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

The contract we have in place is to issue 3 million cards by 2016. As I indicated in my opening statement, we have issued 660,000. Our target is to issue 900,000 in 2014, a similar number in 2015 and approximately 600,000 or 700,000 in 2016. We issue the card only to adults, not to those under 18 years. With such numbers, it goes way beyond the customer base of the Department. Because it is a public service card with major potential as an authenticator of identity, we are talking to various other organisations about the use and deployment of the card and it would help in engaging with customer bases.