Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the provision of that information, which is somewhat enlightening. I know some people are reluctant to have a public service card in existence. I think it is daft that we do not have such a card. We are very happy for banks, mortgage providers and the Department of Social Protection to have all our information. Some people are opposed to the production by the State of a national identity card that contains all of our information. I cannot understand that logic. I would like to get the perspective of the Department. It is clear from the documentation provided for this meeting that there has been an escalation in costs. Difficulties have been encountered with the production of cards. The deadline for the production and issuing of 3 million cards has been missed and just 2.23 million cards have been produced to date. Reference has been made to an additional €60 million. The issues with the computer systems have been documented. I think the precise reference was to "technology". Will that be an ongoing issue as efforts are made to get out the full allocation of cards, or is it a one-off cost associated with upgrading existing technologies within the Department?