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

I have defended the PSC, I have said that it is not an identity card and I have listed all the reasons as to why it is not, including that nobody can ask a person for it. One can never be walking down the road and be stopped by someone demanding that one show one's PSC. Nobody has the authority to ask a person for their PSC. The only thing that bodies have the authority to do is to allow one to offer it in order to be able to access public services, particularly online public services. I minced some words - compulsory, mandatory, requirement. A person cannot access valuable public services unless we know that person is who he or she claims to be. That service could be the provision of a passport or a driving licence. These are very valuable documents. In order for us to issue a licence or passport to Joan Collins, Joan Collins has to have gone through the SAFE2 process so that the State knows that she is Joan Collins.

For the record, although it would not be my remit anyway but that of another Department, neither I nor the Government have any interest in having a debate about introducing a national identification card. I do not think we should have a national identification card in this country for all the same reasons the Deputy thinks we should not. This card is a by-product of a system that was introduced in 2005 and which was underpinned by legislation in 2011 whereby, when Joan Collins is invited in to prove she is who she claims to be, she reaches a level or standard that is so robust that we can ensure that there are no other Joan Collins's in the world or in Ireland claiming to be her and that she is not claiming to be anybody else. We are just trying to ensure that the taxpayer's money is being given and directed, through the services, to people who are who they say they are.

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