Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I will not delay the House but I have a general question. In section 15 the Minister is making provision for information for the purposes of establishing identity. I presume this is part of the scheme to introduce an identity card with a photograph and various technical innovations. The Minister's Cabinet colleague, Deputy Varadkar, was in the House recently and he indicated that he would be introducing a similar type of card for driving licences, once the driving licence scheme is centralised and set up. He indicated there might be an amalgamation on this between Departments. How far advanced is the scheme in the Department of Social Protection? Am I correct that the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Ó Cuív, initiated this process? How long will it be before the cards are available? These cards are not just about establishing identity but also about stamping out fraud. Are there ongoing discussions about introducing a combined card that will incorporate everything, in a similar way to the identity card used by the French?