Mr. Tim Duggan:

I do not accept that that was a response to the comprehensive guide being produced. She has not responded to the Department on the quality or otherwise of the responses in the comprehensive guide.

On the mandatory versus compulsory element, when most people say compulsory, I believe that they are referring to the national ID card. This is certainly the context in which the Minister answered that question all that time ago. This is not a national ID card. The Minister said that it is not compulsory in that context. There is no intention for this to become a national ID card or anything of that nature. To be boring, this is about verifying identity to a substantial level of assurance for public service purposes. That is what this is about.

A national ID card is an entirely different idea. That would entail a person having an identity card that they are required to use. They would be compelled to have the card by virtue of existing in the nation, which is the usual nature of a national ID card. In most countries that have one people are compelled to carry it with them. If a member of a police force in such countries stops a person and asks for his or her national ID card and he or she either does not have it or refuses to furnish it, the police can draw inferences from that, and in many countries the person can simply be detained until such time as it is produced or until the police can verify identity in another way or find out what that person is doing. In most countries that operate national ID cards they are not only required for engaging in public services but also almost all private sector commercial-type services as well where identity is an element of consideration. It is impossible to open any kind of financial account or to get any kind of insurance without one. In fact, it is impossible to do fairly basic things without a national ID card. My sister lives in a country that has a national ID card, and when video stores were a thing the card had to be produced to open an account with a store in order to rent a video.

National ID cards are an entirely different thing to the public services card. The public services card cannot be asked for by anyone other than a specified body in the legislation. It is illegal to request it otherwise. Organisations that have attempted this in the past have been threatened with prosecution. It is illegal for a member of An Garda Síochána to request a public services card as it is not a specified body. The legislation is quite clear that it would be an offence for a non-specified body to request the card.