New documents show the department was concerned with the fallout from Shane Ross bringing a stop to efforts to make a PSC mandatory when applying for a driver’s licence.
The RSA spent €2 million on making the PSC mandatory for driving licence applications – before Transport Minister Shane Ross pulled the plug over concerns doing so was illegal.
The man has long maintained that, in being denied a PSC because he refused to get an adoption certificate, he was in effect being discriminated against.
The PSC project shows no signs of slowing despite concerns over the card’s legality and its compliance with the forthcoming EU data protection regulation.
It emerged at today’s Oireachtas committee on social protection that roughly 450 people have had welfare payments suspended over failing to register for a Public Services Card.
A new Data Protection Act has to be in place before the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes live in May – but the Irish state seems in no mood to align itself with Europe on the issue.
Eight years ago, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) asked why the card needed to contain so much information and how they worried it would end up being demanded for all sorts of public services.
Both the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Road Safety Authority have walked into a blizzard of criticism over the expansion of the Public Services Card (PSC).
Earlier this afternoon Irish Times columnist Noel Whelan and Digital Rights Ireland’s Simon McGarr had a frank exchange of views on the issue at TheJournal.ie HQ.
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe is as culpable as anyone when it comes to the furore surrounding the Public Services Card. So why is he keeping such a low profile?
The card aims to provide public service providers with a verification of an individual’s identity, particularly those collecting social welfare payments and using the Free Travel Pass.
The nine stories you need to know this morning, including: 1,000 more internships on JobBridge, the underwear bomber turns out to be a double agent, and all the details on the new social welfare ID card…
