Department was advised by data consultancy not to use Public Services Card

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was advised by a data protection consultancy not to use the Public Services Card as a mandatory requirement for accessing the new National Childcare Scheme as to do so would risk breaching the constitutional rights of children.

A data protection assessment regarding the best means of processing the data of partners of parents applying for the scheme was carried out in August 2018 by Wexford-based privacy consultancy Castlebridge.