John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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591. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to make the public services card available to be used as identification with the Central Bank; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18098/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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At present, a Public Services Card (PSC) cannot be requested by any public or private body or person not included as a specified body in Schedule 5 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (as amended). The Central Bank is not prescribed as a Specified Body under Schedule 5 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, so therefore cannot ask for or accept the Public Services Card as a proof of identification. The PSC can only be used by public bodies specified in the legislation in the context of conducting a public transaction with the person concerned. At this time there are no immediate plans to expand the range of specified bodies. Any increase in the number of specified bodies would have to be provided for in legislation and consequently would have to undergo Oireachtas scrutiny prior to enactment.

However, one of the provisions set out in Section 5 of the Social Welfare, Pensions, and Civil Registration Bill 2017 would, if enacted, enable customers to volunteer their PSC where they wish to use it as a form of proof of identity and/or age. However, it is important to note that a non-specified body could not request or demand the production of a PSC.

The proposed legislation would not change the number of specified bodies that can request the PSC. It would simply give individuals the option to use their PSC if they wished, as proof of identity and/or age, in transactions with non-specified bodies.

As the law currently stands, even if a card holder volunteers their PSC, a non-Specified Body such as a private sector organisation would be committing an offence by accepting it. Customer feedback is that they should be allowed to volunteer the card to non-Specified Bodies if it suits them to do so, for the purposes of ID verification such as when signing up to a utility company contract or opening an account with a financial institution. Customers often report that private companies insist on a State-issued photographic ID such as a Passport or Driver’s License which they might not have and which are costly. In contrast, the PSC is free of charge. Furthermore, and for the sake of absolute clarity - this proposal in no way allows a private sector body to access the customer data on the card chip or on any government database - simply to view/accept the card as a form of identity and to stop it being an offence for them to accept it. This measure would be beneficial to holders of the PSC, most especially those who do not hold a driving licence or a passport.

Additionally, this alternative approach would give power to the individual to control access to and use of their PSC rather than the organisation that they are dealing with.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.