Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was talked about for a long period before that. We are now, finally, in the process of implementing it.

If we had opted for another system, that would have meant further delays leaving, in a way, the best being the enemy of the good. What we are now rolling out is a data card which has the capacity to hold substantial amounts of data. Therefore, other Departments will be in a position, if they wish, to avail of some of the storage mechanisms on the card. It will be possible to update the card in the future, but it is important that we go with what we have now. We are one of the few European countries doing this and we have the strong support of the public here for it as it recognises how important it is to have a secure social welfare system.