Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 32: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce a system whereby his department would receive notifications of registrations from the vehicle registration office; if he has considered amending the vehicle registration requirements to include PPS numbers, in order to detect possible instances of social welfare fraud; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30179/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that under the provisions of Regulation 7(1)(c) of SI 318/1992 as amended by SI 400/2010 where a person presents a vehicle for registration and that vehicle is being registered in their name, a PPS number is requested and recorded at the time the vehicle is registered. However the majority of vehicles are registered by third parties, i.e. motor dealers, and there could be sensitivities and data protection issues about PPSNs being required in that context. Regarding the broader question of exchange of information to assist in the detection of fraud, Revenue and the Department of Social Protection already exchange considerable quantities of data. Under the auspices of High Level Group of Revenue and Department of Social Protection officials, consideration is given on an ongoing basis to further exchanges of risk-assessed data, and vehicle purchase data is included in that consideration.