Ireland can learn from Britain’s ID card failure

Opponents of public service cards here have urged examination of the experience in Britain which had a costly, at times comical, and ultimately doomed dalliance with a similar plan.

The UK toyed with the idea of a national identity card in the 1990s but began in earnest to explore plans following 9/11. Initially termed an “entitlement card” that would be required to access state services — much like the public services card — it soon evolved into a full-scale identity card complete with a fingerprint and photograph database, a national identity register, and fines for failure to register and/or failure to update information kept on the register.

The Identity Cards Act of 2006 set out the provisions of the plan but it quickly ran into practical difficulties such as the massive scale of the IT infrastructure needed. Pilot projects were begun with select groups of society — such as foreign workers, airport workers and first time passport applicants —but public opinion was building against it.