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.

It is envisaged that the card will eventually be used by public bodies to identify an individual at points of service in an effort to clamp down on social welfare fraud.

Ms Stack said extra staff will be hired at the Department to help ensure the scheme is rolled out as soon as possible.

"The public services card is a top priority for the Department," she told the committee.

"It is something we are very keen to roll out as quickly as we possibly can.

"We'll be taking on a number of extra staff to assist us in that process so it is something that we are taking very seriously."