Ross denies receiving AG advice on PSC use

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.

In response to a parliamentary question on the subject from Sinn Féin TD John Brady, Mr Ross this week said that “no formal advice was sought from the Office of the Attorney General in respect of this decision”.

However, in July 2018, Mr Ross told Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, in response to a question on the same subject, that his department had “sought legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General at various stages of this process”.

Mr Ross did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

The significance of the question relates to the recent adverse report of the Data Protection Commission (DPC) into the PSC, which ruled that processing data using the PSC for State services other than welfare is illegal.

Mr Ross was the only minister, prior to that report’s publication, to row back on the mandatory requirement for accessing a service.

Numerous departments have now followed the minister’s lead in the aftermath of the report’s finalisation on August 15. That is despite Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty’s stated intention to challenge the DPC’s rulings in the courts on foot, she said, of legal advice her own department had received from the Attorney General.

In March 2018, Mr Ross pulled back on his commitment to the PSC-mandatory driving licence scheme to the chagrin of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), which had reportedly spent €2m on its roll-out.

Internal documents from the RSA and the Department of Transport at the time make repeated reference to consultations with both the Attorney General’s office and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the AG body with responsibility for drafting legislation, on the subject.

One such document from March 2018 states that “DTTAS, on basis of AG’s advice, is not confident around the legal standing of the PSC being required on a mandatory basis for driving licence purposes”.

Another stated that “the plan now is to make it ONE of the acceptable forms of identification as the Minister is not prepared to make it mandatory at this time”.

Last month, Mr Ross told news site TheJournal.ie in the wake of the finalisation of the DPC’s report that his officials had been “vindicated” regarding the decision to row back on the PSC requirement, and that they “did the right thing”.

Mr Brady, Sinn Féin’s social protection spokesman, said Mr Ross’ change of tack is “bizarre to say the least”.

“All the facts are there, they received advice on a number of occasions, he’s on record himself saying as much,” said Mr Brady.

“Why at this stage they are backtracking when all the facts, all the evidence, all the information shows clearly what happened, it’s bizarre.”

Mr Brady said he expected the minister will “have to clarify” those apparently contradictory statements.