Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Independent group for putting forward this motion. We have been debating the use of the PSC in this House for years. We have been arguing about when it can be used, how it can be used and what kind of data it can contain. I again make the same point I have made repeatedly over the past number of years. If the Government wants a national identification card, it should admit it, produce legislation, get legal advice, come into this Chamber and let us debate it, but it should not do it by stealth, which is exactly what is happening at the moment. If anyone wants to access public services online, in so many cases, the PSC appears to be required. Of course, this is not legal in most cases.

Last December, the Data Protection Commissioner agreed that the PSC could be used as the sole means of authenticating identity for the purpose of accessing online services provided that an alternative service channel is available. Of course that spirit of that ruling obviously means that service users should be given the freedom of choice and that in-person services should be freely available without the need for a PSC. The Department of Transport's decision to close down walk-in services for the NDLS is completely against the spirit of that ruling. Let us be honest: it was done in order to drive people to the online service by reducing the quality of in-person services and consequently nudging people into getting a PSC. Then it is lauded and the Government says "Oh so many people have got it; it is really successful." This is because people are given no choice. The Government cannot keep throwing up obstacles and reducing the standard of in-person services while claiming that there are genuine alternatives to those provided online.

When I checked the NDLS website yesterday, the next available appointment in Kildare outside of the nine-to five work day was 26 March. A total of 222,000 people live in Kildare. Its population surpassed that of Limerick city and county in the census before last so it is a very large county. The NDLS centre is in an industrial estate in Naas and there is no public transport to it so it is not as if it is particularly convenient. However, there is essentially a purpose in driving people to get access services online because it is made less accessible. Consider first time drivers, who have to get a fully licensed driver to drive them to these centres because no public transport is available.

The reality is that the future generations of drivers and public service users will be pushed towards the PSC with little alternative. Not everyone has access to a computer or a bank account. Currently, all driving licence services, either in-person or online, do not accept cash. Bank accounts obviously are not available to everyone in society. I refer primarily to those who do not have a fixed address. Many people for reasons of their own do not have bank accounts.

We have a habit sometimes of thinking that we are constantly playing catch-up with other countries when it comes to technology and rushing forward but in reality, anyone who visits other countries can see that we are often quite advanced when it comes to introducing technological advancements. This is positive but it cannot be abused.

The reality of a society that has rapidly become more online is that people are being left behind. They are the people who always get the short end of the stick, such as migrants, for example, and, in particular, older people, who are provided with driving licences of a shorter duration and need to renew them more often. Welcome legislation was brought in by the Department of Transport recently to allow asylum seekers access to driving licences. That move will provide an incredible amount of freedom and independence to people who we in this country have treated very poorly through the years. The measure introduced was that temporary residency permits will be accepted as proof of normal residency. Can asylum seekers access the online services or are they required to obtain in-person appointments?

There was never any legal underpinning for the public services card, PSC. It has been an absolute disaster in that respect from the onset. There are serious concerns regarding how it has been imposed on citizens and the range of data embedded in the card. The two successive Governments responsible simply have not been up front about any of it. The previous Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Senator Regina Doherty, insisted on multiple occasions that the Department did not hold biometric data, but it does. The Department has since admitted it was using biometric data on the PSC to identify cases of welfare fraud. There is a national database of facial recognition data and that database has no safeguards written in law. There is no legislation and no clear legal basis for it. Decisions of the Data Protection Commission on the PSC are still pending. There is an investigation into the use of biometric data, as well as a mass complaint mandated to Digital Rights Ireland by hundreds of citizens about the illegality of the use of the card by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is genuinely incredible that the Government is still pushing forward with the PSC in the exact same manner it has always done despite seemingly falling at every single legal hurdle it encounters.

When it comes to these databases, it is important for everyone to realise it is not just the Irish State that has access to them. Under the Prüm II law, the Council of the European Union is discussing plans to add driving licence data to an EU network of police facial recognition systems. Will the Government be supporting this measure? If it intends to do so, it is saying that a person who owns a car, needs to drive or has a driving licence must submit a photo and information that could be used for that kind of purpose. People need to know that.

We know very little about these systems. We do not know what impact they will have on privacy and civil liberties. We do not know how they address accuracy problems or how they will impact on ethnic minorities, for example. This is the essence of turning citizens into customers. We have been talking about this since 2011. It is just another erosion of a public service and we really need to have an alternative. We cannot allow the PSC to be used as an identity card by stealth.

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