Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Going back to what I said at the beginning, there are 500,000 parents who did not sign up with the Department of Education and Skills by forwarding on the PPS number. People have a reservation about releasing their PPS number because it is private, confidential and personal information. We saw what happened with Irish Water where a U-turn had to be made in 2014 on the release of PPS numbers.

I accept the Minister is bringing through a system where the parent can do it at home and all online, but surely the governance for the child care provider will involve the parent providing information to the provider to cross-check that the parent has submitted the application in order for the provider to get his or her funding. It will revolve around the PPS number. Would the Minister agree that there will be concerns around the use of the PPS number?

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