Thomas Pringle
Question:392. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress of the roll out of the public services card; and her views on the duration of the validity of these cards. [52598/12]
View answerTuesday, 27 November 2012
Questions (392)
Written answers
The Department of Social Protection has developed, in conjunction with a number of other Government Departments, a rules based standard for establishing and authenticating an individual’s identity for the purposes of access to public services.
This programme of work, which is known as the Standard Authentication Framework Environment or SAFE for short, also provided for the introduction of a Public Services Card (PSC) to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort, while at the same time preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible
There are 4 main sub-programmes to the PSC Project:
1. PSC design and delivery: The projects to design, develop and deliver the PSC along with the capability to issue, interact with, manage and provide customer support for the card,
2. SAFE Registration development: The projects to develop and deliver the SAFE registration business processes and the ICT systems within the Department to support them (and generate PSC requests),
3. DSP Deployment: The projects to deploy the functionality in the Department’s offices, register clients and issue cards to them, and
4. Future use: Projects to oversee the future development and use of the PSC and its infrastructure, including possible use for on-line and financial services both internally and in other public service bodies.
The first two programmes of work are essentially complete for issue of the standard PSC. The detailed project plan to produce a PSC containing the Free Travel application (PSC-FT) and a variant suitable for issue to juveniles is currently being finalised. The DSP’s main focus now is on the deployment of the registration process throughout the Department’s offices and rapidly increasing its ability to issue standard PSC’s.
A PSC is currently issued following a “face-to-face” registration process which involves the capture of an individual’s photograph and signature, the verification of identity and current address as well as the capture of additional data such as answers to security questions to be used in ensuring the future integrity of customers’ data.
Letters which are issuing from the Department to a number of customers in relation to registration for their PSC ask them to bring proof of identity and evidence of current address with them.
The roll-out of the SAFE registration functionality on a national basis began in June this year, following recruitment and training of staff. The creation of a SAFE registration environment in a local office involves improving the technical connectivity, installing new equipment and training staff in these offices to support the registration process. To date, this process has been completed in 41 DSP Offices with 72 SAFE Stations in production and some 500 staff have been trained. The total number of Public Services Cards issued now exceeds 60,000.
Work is continuing on developing the required bandwidth, installing the appropriate equipment and training staff across the remainder of the Department’s local office network. In addition, a number of dedicated public services card registration centres are being progressed. One such centre has already opened in Gandon House on Dublin’s Amiens Street and others will start to come on stream over the coming months.
On the specific issue of the validity period of the cards, this was determined with regard to two issues in particular: the security of the data held electronically and the physical resilience of the card. After receipt of external expert advice including comparison with other cards, the validity period for the PSC was set at 7 years. This initial policy will be kept under review and changes to it may occur depending on practical experience of the cards’ durability in the field.
Question No. 393 answered with Question No. 356.