Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Nov 1991

Vol. 413 No. 3

Written Answers. - Identification System.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

37 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will outline the plans he has made to establish a universal ID system which will be based on extending the current revenue and social security number system to every resident; if he will further outline the time it will take to make the Revenue Commissioners' computer system compatible with that in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. Daly)

The Government are committed to introducing a universal ID system based on extending the current revenue and social insurance number (that is RSI number) to every resident. A good deal of progress towards the realisation of this objective has already been made.

The function of assigning RSI numbers has been transferred from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to my Department. This transfer of responsibility took place in April of this year and the new system is working well.

In the past, RSI numbers were only assigned to people taking up employment. This meant that RSI numbers were confined to people who were in the social insurance scheme. However, my Department are now allocating RSI numbers to other categories of social welfare clients, such as persons receiving social welfare assistance and to persons on FÁS courses.

It has also been decided to assign RSI numbers to young people in respect of whom child benefit is or was being paid. This means that most people in future will have an RSI number before they actually start work. This represents a major step forward towards extending the system of all residents. At this stage RSI numbers have been allocated to most young people in the 16 to 20 years old age group. It is also intended to issue RSI numbers to spouses of insured people.

In line with these changes, I am arranging to replace the existing cardboard registration card with a more durable plastic registration card which can be used by people when they have occasion to contact Social Welfare or Revenue. The new card will facilitate quick and accurate retrieval of a person's record and enable speedier processing of claims. Initially this card will be issued mainly to the younger age group and extended to other age groups in due course.

On the question of the compatibility of the computer systems used by the Revenue Commissioners and my Department, there is already a huge flow of data between the two offices. This transfer is achieved by means of magnetic tape which is still considered to be the most appropriate arrangement for these purposes. There is no particular need for a more direct link between the computers at present but the matter is kept under review. Where the circumstances warrant, my Department have sophisticated computer-to-computer links to other agencies. In general, these linkages have been provided to facilitate a faster and more integrated service to social welfare clients who contact community welfare officers, FÁS, and who make claims for redundancy payments.