The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has updated its key data protection policy with regard to the Public Services Card on foot of a negative report regarding the card carried out by the Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon.

Regina Doherty said that the appeal is necessary as “the cost of not appealing would be absolutely enormous to the State, and not just in terms of finances”.

GDPR hovers over the continuing standoff between a government department and the Data Protection Commission, writes Cianan Brennan.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has officially appealed the enforcement notice served upon it regarding the Public Services Card by the Data Protection Commissioner.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was advised by a data protection consultancy not to use the Public Services Card as a mandatory requirement for accessing the new National Childcare Scheme as to do so would risk breaching the constitutional rights of children.

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has served the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection with an enforcement notice regarding the stated illegality of the public services card.

It’s hard to escape the feeling that Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty’s appearance before her own Oireachtas committee yesterday was anything but an embarrassing car crash for her personally.

A stormy meeting on the controversial Public Services Card this morning saw Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty say her department would take their objection to accusations of illegality levelled at the card “as far as it takes to vindicate our position”.

A languages teacher in rural Ireland broke her ankle but was denied welfare benefit by the Department of Social Protection because she refused to get a public services card (PSC).

The head of the department with primary responsibility for the Public Services Card project has agreed that it would have been “preferable” if a full business case had been prepared for it at its inception.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has ordered gardaí to remove the Public Services Card as a means of identification on its vetting forms.

An Garda Síochána has been including the public services card (PSC) as an identification option on Garda vetting forms used by businesses across the country, in apparent violation of social welfare law.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty has been urged to explain why money is being spent on public service card "facial matching software" despite repeated assurances the Government has no plans to use the tool.

The Government’s public service card price tag has surged by another €8m in the past two years, with figures showing the total cost of the project has hit €67.8m

A decision to post a congratulatory message regarding the success of the Public Services Card’s online form at a national awards ceremony was met with some scepticism from officials inside the Department of Social Protection.

Ireland’s newest mobile phone network has removed the controversial Public Services Card as a requested form of identification after concerns were raised with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was ordered to make the public services card (PSC) the only way for people to access the new National Childcare Scheme as it did “not make sense” for the department to be allowed to develop its own application system.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has yet to reply to a request by the data protection commissioner for “certain information” regarding the new National Childcare Scheme and the Public Services Card, despite that request being made nearly two weeks ago.

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee has criticised one of the country’s most senior civil servants for making “zero effort to answer the questions” posed by the committee regarding the Public Services Card.

The complainant, Martin McMahon, from Dublin, noted when travelling with his own travel pass that his rights were being breached under the General Data Protection Regulation as his movements were being ‘recorded’

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection did not share the interim adversarial findings of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) regarding the Public Services Card (PSC) with any affected bodies apart from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This was despite being specifically asked and in a position to do so.

One of the country’s top civil servants has defended the public services card (PSC), saying the “value” of the project is “often misunderstood”.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) is facing a possible investigation and potential €1m fines over the mandatory requirement to hold a public services card in order to access the new National Childcare Scheme.

Transport Minister Shane Ross has denied he received any advice from the Attorney General before deciding to pull the Public Services Card (PSC) as a requirement for getting a driving licence, despite saying the opposite on the Dáil record last year.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection cannot say how much the 10-year Public Services Card project has cost to date.

An alternative method for applying for the new National Childcare Scheme online, other than the public services card, was dramatically dropped on the advice of a State body with responsibility for the card’s expansion in January 2018.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection was registering entire private companies for the Public Services Card despite an ongoing investigation into the project by the Data Protection Commissioner.

The Data Protection Commissioner has said that it would have been “wholly inappropriate” for her to meet with the Government after delivering her highly adversarial report into the Public Services Card.

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection has been called upon to release the legal advice she received on the Public Services Card at a stormy Dáil session this evening.

The Public Services Card will be the only way for parents to claim childcare benefits from late October, despite the Taoiseach claiming that “an option will be available” for those who do not wish to register for a card.

The Government is goading the Data Protection Commissioner into taking it to court, mostly as a delaying tactic, says Michael Clifford

The controversy over the Public Services Card appears to be unspooling on a public relations basis, rather than a legal one, writes Cianan Brennan.

The Passport Office will no longer require a person to have a Public Services Card to acquire a passport, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

Ministers Regina Doherty and Paschal Donohoe made the comment following the publication of the Data Protection Commission’s report.

The Government’s policy of retaining its citizens’ personal information upon registration for a Public Services Card has no impact with regard to preventing welfare fraud, the PSC’s original purpose.

The multiple delays in publishing it suggest a government embarrassed by its contents and a minister who wants to defer, says Cianan Brennan.

A €9.4 million project to develop the second generation of the controversial Public Services Card is set for completion in January of next year, it has been confirmed.