Gabrielle McFadden (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ms. O'Donoghue said that 1.4 million personal public service cards had been issued. Does everybody who is receipt of a benefit from the Department have a public service card, and has the Department now moved on issuing them to people who are in employment? How does the Department decide who will be issued them in an area?

The term "invitation" is a bit loose. I got one and it did not state, "You are cordially invited". It stated, "Come in at 11.10 a.m. on Thursday." I felt, no more than Deputy Nolan, that somebody might know something I do not know, and that I might need the card next year. Anyway, I could not attend because the appointment was for 11.10 a.m. on a Thursday and I was here working. A few people came into my office and told me they had been sent for, and that it was not an invitation but a request to attend at a particular time. How did the Department decide who was being invited? Was it working people or those on social welfare? How was it done?