War of words over Public Service Card rebuke by UN official

A UN official with responsibility for human rights said the Public Services Card was discriminatory against the less well-off in Irish society. File picture.

A war of words has broken out between the Irish State and a senior UN official with responsibility for human rights after the Government delayed the publication of a letter critical of the public services card (PSC) project by a number of days.

On April 14, Professor Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), wrote a 40-page letter to the Irish State accusing the PSC of being, among other things, discriminatory against the less well-off in Irish society.