Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a contradiction here. If a person does not provide the necessary SAFE 2 level identification - not the SAFE 1 level - then that person does not have a public services card. Is the SAFE 2 level saying that a person has to have a public services card? Will the Minister clarify if a person could use his or her passport or driver's licence? I shall give an example. The number of services for which a person must have the public services card is growing. These services include social welfare payments, child benefit, school transport, treatment benefits, driving licence applications, age verification, school grant appeals and online health and Revenue portals. The next phase of development is coming in March. I do not have a public services card and I do not want one. I have my passport, which has always been a valid document for identification purposes to access these services. Is the Minister saying that the next phase, which is SAFE 2 level, will deprive people such as me, or an old age pensioner who does not want the card, access to those services?

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