Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In discussing this issue we must go back to the beginning and look at how we got to where we are with the Bill. It is the case that a number of years ago the Government decided that it wanted to introduce a national identity card. We are not really sure why. The war on terror was in vogue and there was a general desire to engage in mass surveillance which was always in the background. It may also have been about being able to make a quick buck. In any case, it was not clear, but there was such a desire. The concept was beaten back in the United Kingdom and the Government realised it was a deeply creepy concept to which many people objected. A national identity card would not come about in that way and even the Tories found it reprehensible. Instead of being up-front and calling it a national identity card when introducing it to the population, we had a back-door version. It was introduced via the most vulnerable in society and called a public services card. A new policy was introduced - if somebody wanted to receive social protection payments, he or she had to obtain a public services card. If that did not happen, the person's income would be cut.

Although it is shocking and outrageous, it is interesting that the media largely ignored the matter. At the time, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, including the former Minister for Social Protection, pushed the lie that social welfare fraud was a major problem and that the cards would have solved it. Nobody even noticed it until a pensioner's payment was cut when she refused to obtain a public services card. At that stage the media started to take notice, although tens of thousands of cards had already been issued. We know that the Data Protection Commission launched an investigation which has been ongoing for over a year, which is unbelievable when we consider there is not much to investigate. In the meantime, the card was made mandatory to receive a range of essential services, despite the fact that there was no legal basis for it. Each time it was made mandatory for a new service, the policy was reversed. This debacle has been ongoing in the background.

Last September a draft of the Data Protection Commission's investigation report was leaked. Essentially, it indicates that there might have been a legal basis in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 for the card to be used for social welfare services but that there is no legal basis for forcing people to obtain one to access anything outside the Department of Social Protection. It is probably not that surprising that just a few short weeks later we are debating a Bill intended to provide such a legal basis for the public services card to be used across a bunch of Departments. A cynical person might think the Data Protection Commission's investigation was deliberately delayed to give the Government time to get the Bill into the House and here we are. A sum of €20 million has been spent so far and the Government has really been prepared to flout the law.

Like Deputy Wallace, I acknowledge some of the improvements made to the Bill in the Seanad, largely as a result of the work of Senator Alice-Mary Higgins who has done very good work. Nonetheless, there are still serious issues with the Bill.

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