THE GOVERNMENT will begin issuing hundreds of thousands of new public service cards later this year, which will be used to access State services such as welfare benefits, free travel and medical rebates. CARL O'BRIEN, Social Affairs Correspondent reports
Officials claim it will help cut out cumbersome form-filling and red tape when dealing with government departments and agencies.
However, civil liberties groups argue that the photo ID and personal information contained on the cards could form the basis of a national identity card.
The Irish Times understands that the card will initially be deployed for use by the 640,000 recipients of free travel before the end of the year.
It will ultimately replace cards used for accessing services in social welfare, revenue, health, education, agriculture and local government.
Under a project which has been under way for the last three years, the new cards will contain all relevant personal details - photograph, signature, name, address, medical card, etc - that a person needs in their dealings with government departments and State bodies.
Pressure for the card to be used as a national identity card could arise as a result of moves by the British government to tighten identity checks.
For example, passport and other identity checks will be introduced between the Republic and Britain - but not between the Republic and Northern Ireland - from 2009 for air travellers, and the following year for those travelling by sea under an e-borders security system.
While officially there are no plans for an Irish ID card, many will argue that the public service card will in effect fulfil many similar functions.
The use of various cards for access to public services is on the increase in recent years. There are more than five million cards in circulation at present including the social services card, the drugs repayment scheme card, medical card, Garda age card, EU health card and free travel pass.
The aim of the public service card is to replace these cards and act as a key for a range of such services, as well as identifying and authenticating individuals where required.
Officials at the Department of Social and Family Affairs say the new card technology will bring improved customer service and better security, reducing the potential for fraud.
Identity fraud has become increasingly common in recent years due largely to improved technology available to replicate identity cards.
For example, the Department of Social Affairs' client identity service control unit, which monitors identity fraud issues, uncovered more than 1,000 cases of bogus identity papers being used to try to claim welfare, leading to the arrest of more than 200 people in the last four years.
A company was recently appointed to produce the new card following the evaluation of three tenders. The project is being run jointly by the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of Finance. The necessary legislative provisions for the use of the new card were included in the 2007 Social Welfare and Pensions Act.