Written answers

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Public Services Card Data

Photo of Donnchadh Ó LaoghaireDonnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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939. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to introduce public services cards with the ability to store biometric data; and if so, the legislation underpinning same. [11971/18]

Photo of Regina DohertyRegina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department is implementing SAFE 2 registration on a phased basis with its customers and customers of other public services that require identity verification to a substantial level of assurance. It is a standard for establishing and verifying an individual’s identity for the purposes of accessing public services which was agreed by the Government in 2005

During SAFE registration, personal data is collected to ensure that a person’s identity is verified and recorded. Once a person has been registered to a substantial level of assurance known as SAFE level 2, a Public Services Card (PSC) can issue.

The legislative provisions relating to SAFE registration are set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 (as amended) as follows:

- Sections 262 and 263B provide for the verification of identity to facilitate the issuing and use of a Personal Public Services Number (PPS Number or PPSN);

- Sections 263, 263A and 263B provide for the verification of identity to facilitate the issuing, use and cancellation of a Public Services Card (PSC);

- Section 241 provides that a person must satisfy the Minister to his/her identity when making a new claim and sets out how that can be done; and

- Section 247C provides that an existing claimant must satisfy the Minister to his/her identity, sets out how that can be done, and provides for disqualification where an existing claimant fails to so do.

Biometric data is information about human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements and it is typically used for authentication purposes.

While the PSC does store a person’s photograph, it does not store the biometric or arithmetic template of that photograph.

My Department has no plans to increase its identity verification requirements to level above SAFE level 2. Any such increase would have to be provided for in legislation that would have to be debated in, and passed by, the Oireachtas.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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