Public Services Card

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023

Tuesday, 20 June 2023

Questions (271)

Paul Murphy

Question:

271. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in light of the finding of the Data Protection Committee that the Department of Social Protection improperly gathered data through the Public Service Card, his views on whether the call in June 2018 by the then-Secretary General at his Department for a ban on those with free travel passes from public transport during rush hour was made based on the data improperly gathered through the public services card; and the procedures that will be put in place to ensure this cannot happen again. [29268/23]

Written answers

Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform

It is my understanding that the Department of Social Protection has accepted a recent Data Protection Commission (DPC) finding in relation to Free Travel usage data. Importantly, the DPC did not make any order following on from their investigation because the Department had already implemented the necessary measures in relation to transparency (since August 2016) and proportionate and necessary data collection (since February 2020).

The Department of Social Protection is not aware of any Free Travel usage data being shared with my Department.