Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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423. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of applications received for a PPS number in 2020; the number approved and processed; the number refused; the number currently being considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5456/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department approved 77,070 Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) applications in 2020 and 11,346 PPSN applications in January 2021. My Department does not maintain records of instances where a person has applied for a PPSN but is found not to be entitled to one. 

The SAFE registration process, which involves the authentication of a person's identity in a face-to-face interview, is the normal method of processing an application for a PPSN.

At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, my Department temporarily suspended the SAFE registration process and the online appointment system used to manage those registrations. This decision was taken in order to comply with HSE and World Health Organisation guidelines and help protect the health and well-being of our customers and staff. 

To ensure that people who needed a PPSN could get one, in March 2020 my Department introduced an email and postal PPSN application service.

This service was replaced in December 2020 with an online application service on MyWelfare.ie for people living in Ireland who are at least 18 years of age. 

My Department is currently processing 1,728 applications received through the email and postal application service. These are cases where additional information or documentation has been requested from the applicant and when it is received the application will be finalised.

In addition, my Department is processing 7,450 PPSN applications received through the MyWelfare.ie service.

My Department is also examining emails received from 7,958 persons in respect of PPSN applications for individuals residing outside of Ireland for reasons such as probate, tax and the purchase of property. As many of these may be duplicate applications, it is not possible at this stage to state with certainty how many of this type of application are currently awaiting a decision. 

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.