Eoin Hayes
Ceist:26. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Minister for Social Protection the plans in place in his Department to change the public services card provision, given data protection concerns of various stakeholders. [2753/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 15 January 2026
Ceisteanna (26)
Freagraí scríofa
The SAFE registration process is key to proper authentication of a person's identity. It acts to facilitate easier access to services by enabling people to present proof of identity on a 'once and done' basis rather than having to present such proofs each time they transact with a public body. It is also core to the delivery of secure online services and is key to the implementation of the Connecting Government 2030 strategy, and the implementation in Ireland of the EU Digital agenda including the EIDAS regulation and the EU Digital Wallet. The SAFE process and the use of the Public Services Card (PSC) was critical to the rapid rollout of services in response to the Covid epidemic and more recently has proven critical to the allocation of a unique identity, enabling access to public services, for the migrants from Ukraine and other countries.
The SAFE identity authentication process that matching photographs to protect against identity fraud is a core part of the Government’s public services platform. It helps to deter and, where attempted, detect fraudulent presentation of identities for the purpose of accessing public services and funds.
To date, over 4.8 million people have verified their identities using the SAFE process, over 3.2 million of whom use this verified identity to access online Government services. There have been no cases of loss, breach or misuse of data, or of any harm to individuals whose identity has been verified. On the other hand, there has been a number of cases of criminals detected and prosecuted for fraudulent presentation of identity. Notably, there has been a decrease in cases of identity related fraud since the roll-out of the SAFE Registration process in 2012.
By preventing identity fraud it enables secure and safe online access to services across multiple platforms, including DSP, Revenue, SUSI, NDLS and the Department of Agriculture. It also supports services like the free travel scheme (about 600,000 users each week).
The biometric verification of identity is a core requirement of the EU digital services initiatives including the introduction, under regulation, of an EU wide public services wallet/mobile phone app by 2027. The Government is committed to fulfilling the requirements of that regulation and requires the SAFE process to do so.
The Department believes that it has a valid legal basis for the SAFE Registration process and the Public Service Card and that it does satisfy the requirements of transparency required to operate the SAFE process, including the biometric processing element.
The Department, and the Government is committed to assuring the continued availability of the SAFE process and all of the services that it supports both to protect against fraud and for the convenience of service users.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.