Written answers

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Personal Public Service Numbers

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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645. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason it is necessary for widows to obtain new PPS numbers on the passing of their husbands; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there can be delays in the issuing of these new numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50027/17]

Photo of Regina DohertyRegina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In this context it is useful to provide the background to the origin of PPS numbers with a 'W' suffix – often referred to as “Level W” numbers.

Under old tax law, the husband of a married couple was considered the assessable spouse and the wife was considered a dependant of the husband. Accordingly, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue) allocated the husband’s Revenue and Social Insurance (RSI) number to the wife and appended a “W” to the end so that they could be separately identified but linked for joint assessment. Following the introduction of PRSI in 1979 Revenue collected social insurance on behalf of this Department and made the necessary transfers using this “Level W” number where required.

Following legislative provision being made in the Finance Act 1993 for either spouse to be the assessable spouse, the practice of allocating “Level W” numbers ceased and from then on, all persons were allocated individual, unique numbers. However, it was decided not to ask all individuals with “Level W” numbers to change them until there was an actual need to do so.

The Personal Public Service Number (PPS Number) was introduced in the Social Welfare Act 1998, replacing the RSI Number, and my Department was given legislative responsibility for allocating and managing these new numbers. In practice the RSI numbers in existence were retained and became PPS Numbers, including “Level W” numbers.

As a result of the changes over 20 years ago, the vast majority of individuals now have their own non “Level W” PPS Numbers.

While there is no legal requirement for a widow to obtain a new PPS Number on the death of her husband, the Revenue position is that while it continues to support “Level W” numbers for the limited range of non-assessable spouse options, its systems now require a non “Level W” number where they are dealing with an individual in his or her own right. Revenue has also stated that accommodating “Level W” numbers for tax purposes would require significant ICT development across a range of Revenue systems. Accordingly, Revenue asks people with “Level W” numbers to change them once they need to engage with them on taxation matters.

In addition, as a husband’s PPS Number may be extracted from his wife’s “Level W” number, there are also Data Protection concerns over the continuing use of such numbers.

The process of replacing a “Level W” number is relatively straightforward. The process can only be undertaken by staff of the Client Identity Section (CIS) in my Department who can be contacted by phone or by email. Accordingly, there is no need for the client to turn up at any office or to queue for service. As part of the process, CIS verifies the identity of the individual, secures their consent, purges the existing number and replaces it with either a new number or one that the individual may have had prior to marriage. In addition, all pre-existing records relating to that individual are transferred over to the new number. Once completed, a letter advising of the new number is issued to the individual at their home address. While every effort is made to complete this work within 24 hours, it can occasionally take up to 5 working days because of volumes. However, urgent cases are always expedited.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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