Government willing to go 'as far as it takes' to defend position on Public Services Card

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”.

The Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection heard the Minister say, repeatedly and inaccurately, that the PSC had at no time been intended as a mandatory requirement for accessing public services, such as passport applications.