Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a few final questions before concluding. We are almost done.

I get the point on the public services card. As I have not yet had to apply for one, everyone has not had to apply. It started with the Department of Social Protection as a card that was needed or else a person would not receive anything. It has since moved on and is now required to be issued with a passport or have one renewed. It is a system that will eventually catch most adults. If a person does not depend on receiving something from the State, separate from a passport, for now he or she can get by without it, but the need to have a passport will be the hook from which people will not be able to escape. If a person does not want to have a passport or claim a pension or social welfare payment, he or she will able to survive without it. That is how I see it.

With regard to Deputy Catherine Connolly's questions, there are benefits to the card, but our job in this committee is to inquire about costs, the contract and lessons to be learned. There are benefits, but we have to look at something else. Mr. Watts knows this.

I have a couple of questions about the Department's information and communications technology, ICT, strategy in general. Will Mr. Watt give us the list of services that may be migrated to a digital platform? We have just been talking about being able to tax a car while sitting at the kitchen table or applying for a passport or a driver's licence, with the ability to take a picture on one's phone. What are the main services still being considered?