The Government cannot continue to progress controversial Public Services Card legislation in the upcoming Social Welfare Bill until key data protection concerns are addressed, according to Social Democrats TD social protection spokesperson Eoin Hayes.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hayes, who is the party\u2019s Social Protection spokesperson, made his comments following a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection today during which the Social Welfare and Other Matters Bill underwent pre-legislative scrutiny:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill will see the expansion of the data sharing capabilities of the Public Services Card, which is unthinkable while the Department continues to deal with breaches of security, improper data protection processes, and severe concerns aired by data protection and civil rights advocates regarding the operation of the card.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Data Protection Commission announced last year after a four-year investigation that the department had illegally collected and held facial recognition and biometric data from 70% of the population of Ireland, or 3.4 million people. The Commission was unequivocal in its findings and fined the Department \u20ac550,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Department has appealed that decision, the idea that they would expand the use of the card and continue with the biometric elements while this appeal is pending is ludicrous.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo legal basis or business case has been set out for the biometric functions of the card, and until the Department can justify that and get on sound legal footing with the Data Protection Commission, they cannot justify expanding the role of the card in how citizens interact with the state and avail of the services they are entitled to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department and the Minister can make up whatever language they want, but it has to be recognised that this card is now becoming a mandatory, rather than voluntary, form of ID.<\/p>\n
\u201cA cornerstone of European law and civil rights has been the privacy and data protection of the individual and their personal information. The State is not above that, the Department of Social Protection is not above that, and the Minister is not above that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should reverse course, or at the very least postpone these legislative changes until more clarity is given to the Oireachtas and the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 27th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government cannot continue to progress controversial Public Services Card legislation in the upcoming Social Welfare Bill until key data protection concerns are addressed, according to Social Democrats TD social protection spokesperson Eoin Hayes. Deputy Hayes, who is the party\u2019s Social Protection spokesperson, made his comments following a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,796,7,721,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data","category-eoin-hayes","category-press-release","category-social-protection","category-social-welfare"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n