Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 42: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps taken to inform Romanian immigrants about procedures for obtaining PPS numbers following the incidents where immigrants were charged illegally for numbers. [15328/07]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The personal public service number, PPSN, is the individual's unique reference number for accessing services from Government Departments and public bodies.

Children born in Ireland are allocated PPS numbers automatically when their births are registered. 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 their address. They are usually informed of their PPSN by post within five days.

In early January, following the accession of Romania to the EU, officials of my Department's Local Office at North Cumberland Street, Dublin, became suspicious about the unusually high proportion of citizens of Romania who stated in applications for PPSNs that their Irish address was one or other of a number of hostels in Dublin 1.

When these applicants were interviewed it emerged that they had been given incorrect information and advice about the PPSN allocation system by another Irish-resident Romanian citizen, who also provided them with an interpretation service and who was charging for these services. It also emerged that people were being aided or persuaded to mislead the Department about their actual addresses in Ireland.

The existence of this practice was reported to An Garda Síochána for investigation and any follow-up action they consider appropriate in the event that evidence of a breach or breaches of the law is brought to light.

My Department issued a statement on 29 January in order to prevent further exploitation of citizens of Romania. The statement, which was specifically aimed at Romanian citizens, outlined the process involved in applying for a PPSN and informed them that my Department does not charge for the issue of these numbers. It also confirmed that, where necessary, translation and interpretation services are provided free of charge. A copy of this statement, in the Romanian language, was posted on my Department's website, which is the most conveniently accessible and trusted source of information on these matters. Copies of the statement, in English and in Romanian are displayed in Local Offices of the Department. Arrangements were also made with the Chaplain to the Romanian Community in Dublin to have this information announced at religious services in the city.