Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The public services card is simply the token that proves that a person, Joan Collins for example, has completed the SAFE 2 level process and that she is Joan Colllins. The card is only a by-product or a token of having gone through that standard. There are 50 public bodies - or their agents - detailed and listed in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended, that can ask a person for the public services card. This is mostly so they can do business with the public over the phone or online. If Deputy Joan Collins has public services card No. 123456 and if she quotes her number to SUSI, for example, during a telephone conversation, SUSI will know who she is because it has access to the dataset which shows that Joan Collins has undergone the SAFE 2 process and that there is no need to ask her for any further identification, such as a driving licence, a public services card, a passport or an ESB bill. None of that will be required because we will already know that Joan Collins is who she says she is and then the SUSI application can be processed. When we are assured of a person's identity by means of SAFE 2, it allows access to a whole range of services offered by the 50 public bodies and their agents. This makes dealing with Government easier than it used to be.

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