Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It may be usual for bodies to differ in respect of legal opinion but it is most unusual for a Government to challenge its own statutorily appointed regulator and immediately to seek legal advice after a two-year period of intensive research leading to a detailed report. From the Minister's response, as well as from her contributions earlier, I detect that the only way she will comply with the directive she was issued by the DPC is if she is dragged into court, at the expense of the taxpayer. She stated that is her only option and earlier stated it would be illegal to comply with the directive issued by the DPC, but there is no basis for that. What reason does she have? I asked earlier to see the legal advice and it has now emerged the legal advice did not come from the Office of the Attorney General. Instead, it came from an external lawyer who was given the brief after the DPC had reported and who was able to conclude, in a short space of time, that two years of research meant nothing. I again invite the Minister to publish that legal advice or at least a summary or analysis as to why, how and in what way the DPC was wrong. I do not want a private briefing with officials in the Department but rather something that can be put into the public domain.

The Minister will be aware that a number of other public bodies, such as the Road Safety Authority and the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Trade, have decided not to insist on the production of a public services card to access the services they provide. That indicates that those bodies are much less certain of the legality of the matter than is the Minister. She must also be aware of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2016 that was highly critical of the public services card, and that the report by the DPC we are discussing found, and demonstrated clearly, that many of the so-called benefits claimed for the public services card were illusory. The report is exhaustive and crystal clear, and I have no doubt it will be vindicated legally when the time comes.

The Government's approach damages Ireland's reputation as a good location for international tech companies. As Professor Eoin O'Dell, an expert in the subject, put it in The Sunday Business Poston 23 September 2019, "A government in such open conflict with the DPC can have no credibility in seeking to ensure that such companies comply with the commission’s decisions." The conflict between the Government and the DPC, despite the protestations of respect and so on, creates the impression to outside observers that if a company is ruled against by the DPC, the company could enlist the aid of the Government and get the commissioner's decision overturned.

That is an unhealthy state of affairs.

A number of other investigations are under way. There is an investigation into the biometric qualities of the photograph on the card. There is also an investigation into whether the independence of one of the data protection officers was compromised by a directive he received from above. There is a draft report on that matter and my information is that it finds that person's position was compromised and the Department is at fault. In view of the detailed report from the Data Protection Commissioner, could the Government not cease the practice of allowing public bodies to insist on the production of a PSC for essential public services? None of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs or the Road Safety Authority is insisting on this so why should other public bodies insist on it?

The Minister quoted at length this morning about the popularity of the PSC. I agree and I do not deny for a moment that the card is popular. Many people find it useful but why must it be mandatory? This question has not been answered. Will the Minister specifically address it in her reply? If somebody can produce the requisite proofs to get a passport or whatever else, why is it necessary to go through the process and hand over the data to obtain a public services card before having to produce it? There are many jurisdictions in Europe with an identity card but the systems operating in them have safeguards that are much more secure than anything in this country. I ask the Government to cease this headlong rush towards what in effect is a national identity card. There must be a proper debate on this in the House rather than statements limited to five-minute contributions. That should happen not only in political spheres but in civic society.

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