Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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538. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who applied for a public services card in 2021 and to date in 2022. [24944/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Public Services Cards (PSC) are produced following the authentication of a person's identity via the SAFE registration process. Accordingly, there are no direct applications for PSCs.

The records of my Department show that a total of 3.6 million persons have been SAFE registered and had a PSC issued to them.

In 2021, my Department issued 442,000 PSCs of which 150,000 were issued to customers for the first time. The remainder are renewed and re-issued cards. From January to April 2022, some 212,000 PSCs issued of which some 84,000 were issued to customers for the first time and the remainder are renewed and re-issued cards.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.