No definitive answer after RSA queried department on whether 'red flag' raised by interim report into PSC

The Road Safety Authority specifically queried the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection as to whether any “red flag” had been raised by an interim report into the Public Services Card by the Data Protection Commissioner, but received no definitive answer.

The interim report by the DPC into the controversial PSC was delivered to Social Protection in late August 2018.

While the fact the report had been delivered was public knowledge, its contents remained shrouded in secrecy at the time.

It has since emerged that the findings of the draft report were highly critical of the PSC project, a stance also seen in the final report published on August 16 which, amongst other adversarial rulings, found that the card is illegal when used for the processing of State services other than welfare.

“Here is my question - to what degree are there issues raised in the DPC review of the PSC that might lead to a situation that NDLS might not be able to use the PSC in future for our postal option?” a senior RSA official asked of a Social Protection colleague in October 2018.

“If there was an obvious red flag somewhere that would give you a concern that our reliance on the PSC for our postal option might not be sensible right now it would be great to know,” they RSA official added.

A response to that query was not forthcoming until almost three weeks later. In that, the senior Social Protection official queried said the provisional findings of the interim report had to be dealt with “in the strictest confidence” at the behest of the Data Protection Commission itself.

“Ultimately, it is a matter for yourselves in the RSA to determine what level of authentication you wish to employ for the postal application channel of service delivery,” the official said.

It is not really possible for this Department to speculate whether there is - as you put it - an obvious red flag somewhere that would give concern on your reliance on the PSC for your postal option.

The RSA’s postal application portal for driving licences was launched with a view towards the closure of 80% of its licence processing offices nationwide after February 2021.

In making the PSC a prerequisite for such applications, the RSA would have given itself access to the citizen in question’s Public Services Identity dataset - a database of personal information on all people interacting with designated State bodies, such as Revenue or the HSE - and by dint of that their photograph in order to streamline the process.

However, the PSC was not, in the end, made mandatory for such applications and remains an option only, the RSA said.

Between February 2017 and March 2018 the RSA spent €2 million on amending its systems in order to make the PSC compulsory for all driving licence applications.

That requirement was pulled at the 11th hour by Transport Minister Shane Ross who had become discomfited as to the legality of such a move upon consultation with the Attorney General.

Most State bodies have now pulled the PSC as a mandatory requirement for accessing their services, with the notable exception of the new National Childcare Scheme, which goes live from October 29.