Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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166. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding the issuing of the public services card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; specifically the reason this person has been requested to participate in the face-to-face registration process; the criteria used to determine low-risk customers who have been invited to avail of a postal registration process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41164/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services. This programme of work, which is known as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment or SAFE for short, also provided for the introduction of a Public Services Card (PSC) to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible.

The PSC is designed to replace other cards within the public sector such as the free travel pass and the social services card of the Department and to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customers. The PSC contains advanced security features including the holder’s photograph thus preventing usage by an ineligible person.

A PSC is currently issued following either a “face-to-face” registration process, or a ‘postal’ registration process.

The “face-to-face” registration process involves the capture, at one of the Department’s offices, of a person’s photograph and signature, the verification of identity and current address as well as the capture of additional data such as answers to security questions to be used in ensuring the future integrity of customers’ data.

Selected pensioners over 66, deemed low-risk from an identity perspective, have been invited to avail of one of two ‘postal’ registration process. One of these involves utilisation, with consent, of information already provided to other Government agencies, for example, a photograph supplied in connection with an application for a passport. The other applies to those who regularly collect their payments at a Post Office and requires the person to provide two passport-standard photographs. The ‘postal’ registration processes also involve the capture of additional data such as answers to security questions.

The vast majority of persons who have received PSCs have authenticated their identity by attending at a face-to-face registration. This includes persons in receipt of Jobseeker’s payments such as the individual to whom the Deputy refers.