Dept to prioritise rollout of public services ID card

A senior official at the Department of Social Protection has said that the rollout of the new public services ID card will be among its top priorities this year.

Speaking at an Oireachtas Committee meeting this morning, the Department's Assistant Secretary Kathleen Stack said she hoped the biometric card, currently used by around 6,200 social welfare claimants, will be available to everyone by the end of 2012.