Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has made an appalling series of allegations and accused Ministers and the Oireachtas of engaging with this issue in a dishonest way. My understanding of the Deputy's political philosophy is that she favours the State having a role in trying to provide better services for people. I would, therefore, have expected her to favour the State having a role in trying to provide such services in a more efficient manner. The Deputy inferred - she more than inferred - that there was no legislative underpinning for the public services card and when I explained clearly that there is such an underpinning, she made the entirely unfounded claim that this was a national identity card.

As I and other Ministers have explained on many occasions, and I am happy to do again, it is not a national identity card. People are not required to carry it and it is an offence if such identification is sought from persons. I thought a Deputy who is in favour of the State playing a bigger role in people's lives and trying to make better use of public services would see the merit of this approach, as opposed to making the entirely unfounded allegations she made.

See this speech in context