Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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50. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the specific legal basis for withholding or denying social welfare payments, including pensions and child benefit, in cases in which a person entitled to such payments fails to register for a public services card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39595/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the social protection payments that require the production of a public services card; the legislation that enables this requirement; the number of payments which have ceased due to non production of the card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39448/17]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if persons applying for social welfare payments including those applying for the State pension are required to first apply for a public services card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39585/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50, 54 and 61 together.

In 2005, the Government agreed a standard for establishing and verifying an individual’s identity for the purposes of accessing public services. This standard is known as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment – or “SAFE”.

The SAFE standard has four levels:

Safe 0= No assurance of identity.

Safe 1= Balance of probabilities (the minimum authentication level for the allocation of a PPS Number).

Safe 2= Substantial assurance (the minimum authentication level for issuing a Public Services Card).

Safe 3= Beyond reasonable doubt.

The Department operates a number of methods to SAFE 2 register a person. The usual method involves a combination of all of the following –

-a face-to-face meeting,

-the collection and verification of the person’s Public Service Identity (PSI) data set,

-the examination/validation/verification of at least two documents supporting identity, and

-photo capture and matching.

As part of the verification process the person’s photo is run through software to check against other photos that have already been taken during other SAFE 2 registrations. This is to detect and/or prevent duplicate registrations.

Once a person completes a SAFE 2 registration they may be issued with a Public Services Card (PSC) as a physical token that proves they have had their identity verified to the SAFE 2 standard. Additionally, a person may be issued with a verified MyGovID account, which is a secure online account for accessing public services digitally, and again proves in the online environment that the person has had their identity verified to the SAFE 2 standard. The PSC and MyGovID, in turn, enable individuals gain access to high value and personalised public services, in person and electronically, more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while preserving privacy and security. In the case of services provided by my Department, the PSC is being used to replace the Social Services Card and paper Free Travel pass and MyGovID is being used to provide access to an increasing number of welfare services online at www.mywelfare.ie.

Accordingly, SAFE Level 2 registration allows a person to verify their identity once for public service purposes because it is to a substantial level of assurance. Consequently, it eliminates the need for a person to repeatedly register their identity information when accessing public services. It makes it more difficult for someone else to claim to be a person and so helps to eliminate “identity theft” and fraudulent access to someone else’s data.

The primary legislative provisions for SAFE registration and identity verification are set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 (as amended) as follows –

-Sections 262 and 263B provide for the verification of identity for issuance and use of a PPS Number.

-Sections 263, 263A and 263B provide for the verification of identity for issuance, use and cancellation of a PSC.

-Section 241 provides that a person must satisfy the Minister as to his/her identity when making a new claim.

-Section 247C provides that an existing claimant must satisfy the Minister as to his/her identity and provides for disqualification where an existing claimant fails to so do.

In other words, the legislation requires a person to satisfy the Minister as to their identity and allows for disallowance or disqualification from receipt of a benefit in the event that it is not done. It is not possible for a claimant to satisfy the Minister as to his or her identity without registering to SAFE 2. Given that my Department spends over €19bn p.a. on supports and services, we need to be sure that people who access these services are the people who are entitled to receive them and that they don’t access them multiple times under different identities. Accordingly, it is reasonable to ask people to verify their identity to a substantial level of assurance.

Where a customer is invited to satisfy the Minister as to their identity in the manner prescribed in law, the customer is required to engage with that process. The Department makes it clear to customers in receipt of social welfare payments or Free Travel entitlements that they do need to complete a SAFE 2 registration to access, or continue to access, payments and entitlements. In the main, customers are invited to a scheduled registration appointment, completion of which results in the issue of a PSC by post. The Department also issues reminder letters to customers, as required. Customers may also book a different time/date to suit them, either online via www.mywelfare.ie, by contacting the Department’s offices, or by walking in to ask for the next available appointment.

While the default SAFE 2 registration method is ‘face-to-face’ (as set out at Sections 263B, 241 and 247C (3) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended), the Department can and does make other arrangements with certain customers, where appropriate, to elevate their identity verification to the SAFE 2 standard. Combining high quality public service identity data with risk analysis and customer consent can, in some circumstances, allow the Department to complete the process by post rather than face-to-face. These alternative methods are further strengthened in that all photographs are subjected to facial image matching against previously held photographs. Additionally, the Department operates a mobile registration solution to cater for those persons incapable (for whatever reason) of attending a Department office. Although this approach works best in congregated environments, individual registrations (for example at a person’s residence) can be undertaken in exceptional circumstances. In this context, I want to make it clear that customers who face bona fide challenges to in-person attendance will not be disadvantaged, in terms of access to payments and/or availing of Free Travel entitlements.

The Department is in the process of completing SAFE 2 registration of its entire existing customer base. As the Department is in a roll-out phase and as its customer base is not static, this is an ongoing process. Accordingly, there are people in payment that have not yet been invited to SAFE 2 register and not all first time applicants are yet required to SAFE 2 register before being put in payment. However, over time, as the rollout phase completes, all customers of the Department’s schemes will be required to be SAFE 2 registered.

The Department does not collect data on the number of individuals who currently, or who, at any point in time, have had a payment stopped by reason of failing to complete the SAFE 2 registration process. This data is fluid in nature.

For example, a considerable number of customers who have a payment or entitlement suspended or stopped subsequently decide to complete the SAFE2 process and have their payment or entitlement reinstated. It should be noted that of the remainder, a considerable portion do not make any contact with the Department. The decision to stop a payment is never made lightly. However, where a customer does not “satisfy the Minister in relation to identity” as per the legislative requirements, a payment can be disqualified. In advance of any such disqualification, the Department makes every effort to engage with the customer to explain the legislative basis for the SAFE 2 registration process and the consequences of potential disqualification. Where a payment has been disqualified and the customer subsequently successfully completes the SAFE 2 registration process, their payment will be reinstated by the Department (assuming they continue to meet all qualifying criteria for that payment).

I hope this clarifies the matter for Deputies.