THE NEW public services card, designed to cut down on welfare fraud, is being distributed to social welfare recipients from this week.
The card, which incorporates anti-fraud mechanisms such as a biometric photograph, is designed to provide access for those entitled to public services and free travel.
The Department of Social Protection has begun the phased introduction of the card at offices in Tullamore, Sligo and King’s Inns in Dublin, officials told an Oireachtas committee yesterday.
By the end of the year it is anticipated 4,000 people will be issued with the card, which is the size of a credit card and is said to be tamper-proof. The card’s front will hold a person’s name, photograph and signature, while the back will hold the person’s Personal Public Service (PPS) number and a magnetic strip for compatibility with existing social services cards.
Information including the person’s name, PPS, date of birth, sex, nationality, photograph and signature will be electronically stored on the card. The department says that, in time, the magnetic strip will be replaced by chip and pin technology.
Samples of the card were shown to members of the Joint Committee on Social Protection.
The department aims to make €625 million in control savings next year by cutting down on welfare fraud, up from €540 million this year, assistant secretary Ann Vaughan told the committee.
Control savings are not monies recovered by the department but an estimate of future expenditure that is avoided. The actual level of overpayments last year was considerably lower, at €83.4 million.
Last year, €7.8 million was recovered from the estates of deceased social welfare recipients who had been overpaid, the committee heard.
Committee chairman Damien English welcomed the card and progress made in tackling fraud.