Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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390. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for the delay in processing a PPSN application for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31044/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has allocated a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to the individual referred to by the Deputy. A letter issued to the person concerned on 19 October 2020 with details of the PPSN.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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391. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for the delay in processing a PPSN application for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31045/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has allocated Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) to the individuals referred to by the Deputy. Letters issued to the individuals concerned on 19 October 2020 with details of their PPSNs.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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392. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for the delay in processing an application for a PPS number in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31046/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has allocated a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to the individual referred to by the Deputy. A letter issued to the person concerned on 19 October 2020 with details of the PPSN.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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393. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the processing times for client identity applications for persons requiring PPS numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31047/20]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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419. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when it is expected that PPSN applications from outside the State will resume; her views on the fact that the current pause in such applications has severely impacted business in areas such as property sales; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31535/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 393 and 419 together.

The SAFE registration process, which my Department uses to authenticate a person's identity when they apply for a PPSN is a face-to-face process, carried out in PPSN Centres across the country.

At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, my Department temporarily postponed the SAFE registration process. This decision was taken to comply with HSE and WHO guidelines in respect of social distancing.

To help ensure that those who required a PPSN could get one, my Department introduced an email and postal service through which applications could be made.

MY Department has received, and continues to receive, significant volumes of email and post in relation to PPSN applications from people living in and outside the State. Data on the processing times of these applications are not currently available.

My Department was working towards a full resumption of the PPSN allocation service in local offices over this week but the Level 5 restrictions announced by the Government yesterday evening mean this is not now possible at this stage.

In the interim, additional resources are being assigned to deal with the applications on hands and I expect this will result in an improved service for PPSN applicants.

I trust this clarifies the position for the Deputy.