THE DEPARTMENT of Social and Family Affairs has conceded that a planned new public services identity (ID) card could be delayed for a significant period of time due to budgetary constraints.
Officials told The Irish Timesat the weekend that the process of issuing the new card was expected to begin before the end of this year with the 640,000 recipients of free travel passes.
However, a spokeswoman for Minister for Social Affairs Mary Hanafin corrected the department's earlier statement and said no start-up date had been set for the cards.
While the process of developing the new cards was well under way and a preferred bidder had been selected to produce them, the spokeswoman said the initiative was subject to budgetary constraints.
The cards will ultimately replace those used for accessing services in social welfare, revenue, health, education, agriculture and local government. Officials say they will help cut out cumbersome red tape when dealing with State departments and agencies.
However, civil liberties groups have argued the photo ID and personal information contained on the cards could form the basis of a national identity card.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties yesterday said safeguards were essential in the piloting of the new card. Tanya Ward, acting director of the council, said: "We have very piecemeal privacy and data protection laws in Ireland and we want to know what safeguards are being put in place for the operation of this new public service card system. Who will have access to this information and how will it be used?"
Officials at the department have said the card will not become a national ID card and the new card technology will bring improved customer service and better security, reducing potential fraud.
Identity fraud has become increasingly common in recent years, due largely to improved technology for replicating identity cards.
The use of cards for access to public services has been increasing in recent years.
For example, there are more than five million cards in circulation at present, including the social services card, drugs repayment scheme card, medical card, Garda age card, EU health card, and free travel pass.
As part of a project under way for the past three years, the new cards will contain all relevant personal details - photograph, signature, name, address etc - that a person needs in their dealings with Government departments and State bodies.
The aim of the public service card is to replace these cards and act as a key for a range of such services, as well as identifying and authenticating individuals where required.
