Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 37: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the investigations that have been held into allegations in regard to his statement of 29 January 2007, regarding the exploitation of Romanian immigrants to this country by the charging of a fee for the arrangement of PPS numbers; the extent of the abuse; if prosecutions will follow; and the steps being taken to alert immigrants as to their rights in regard to PPS numbers. [7895/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The personal public service number, PPSN, is the individual's unique reference number for dealings with a range of Departments and public bodies. A PPSN issues automatically to children who are born in Ireland. In all other cases an application must be made at a local office of my Department. When applying for a PPSN, individuals are asked to complete an application form and to provide documentation to establish their identity and address. They are usually informed of their PPSN by post within five days. In early January, following the accession of Romania to the EU, it emerged that incorrect information and advice and an interpretation service was being provided to certain Romanian applicants for PPSNs by a Romanian citizen resident in Ireland who was charging for this service. The existence of this practice has been reported to An Garda Síochána for investigation and any follow-up action it considers appropriate if evidence of a breach or breaches of the law comes to light. A number of Romanian citizens have been interviewed by officers of the Department and further specific action will be taken in these cases where possible and warranted. My Department issued a statement on 29 January to prevent further exploitation of citizens of Romania. The statement informed them that my Department does not charge for the issue of PPSNs and that, where necessary, translation and interpretation services are provided free of charge. A copy of this statement in Romanian has been posted on my Department's website and arrangements have been made with the Chaplain to the Romanian Community in Dublin to have this information announced at religious services in the city.