The Government is to introduce a Public Services Card (PSC) to provide safe and easy access to public services across the country.

All first-time passport applicants over the age of 18 who are resident in Ireland will be required to have the card, as well as adults whose last passport was issued before 1^st January 2005 and has been reported lost, damaged or stolen. Those currently receiving social welfare will need to apply for the card also and from June, anyone sitting a theory test will need to acquire one. The Department of Social Protection claims most public services over time will require us to carry one. They also say that by having the card, our “identity is fully authenticated when it is issued so there’s no need to give information to multiple organisations.”

@ElaineEdwards Hey, have you seen this? PS is card now the only valid form of ID for driver theory test. https://t.co/43F9qDenMG

— Margaret H (@curtainqueen) May 21, 2017

The Department of Social Protection has stated that those who do not hold the card when required may have their payments, child benefit and free travel suspended. Despite this, Minister for Public Health and Reform, Pascal Donoghue has said it will not be compulsory for citizens to get the card. During the PSC pilot scheme—which began in 2012—the card was issued to over 2.5 million citizens, most of whom were those receiving social welfare payments. The database used to oversee the provisions of the card, gathered information from across government departments. The Government says passport photos were used to administer the cards, with the permission of the passport holder. These were taken from the Department of Foreign Affairs rather than the 'face-to-face' application method detailed on the Department of Social Protection's website. Currently, a citizen’s personal data is not allowed to be shared between government bodies—that is—without their consent.

Irish Times has been refused documents on new compulsory ID cards as it would be “contrary to the public interest” https://t.co/KnyZ0PVVus

— David Cochrane (@davidcochrane) May 22, 2017

The launch of the cards has not been met with open arms. Privacy campaigners have voiced their concerns, one of them being UCD law lecturer and chairman of the civil liberties group Digital Rights Ireland, TJ McIntyre. According to the Irish Times he said,

“It appears to be a policy of introducing a national ID card by stealth, in a way which appears to be illegal.”

Something tells us it may not be the last we hear of these Public Service Cards.