1. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection for an update on any plans to expand the use of a digital ID; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31202/26]
Sentiment score: 0.11
The Minister will be delighted to know that my question is straightforward. It relates to the expansion of the digital ID, or the public services card as it is known. The Minister will be well aware that this card has been mired in controversy. A succession of Ministers have tried to defend how this card is mandatory but somehow not compulsory. There is an element to this that people have to have it but they also do not have to have it. For that reason, I and many others are concerned about its expansion.
Sentiment score: 0.15
The Minister will well understand why I and others, such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and other groups, are necessarily cautious about this. For example, when the public services card, PSC, was brought in, it was said that it would be mandatory but not compulsory, or vice versa. In the end, the requirement for those over 65 is that they must have one of these cards with a chip in it to access the free travel scheme. There is a creeping sense that people are being asked to hand over their identification and have a level of trust – this is not personal to the Minister - in the Government in the holding of their data. I do not believe that sufficient work has been carried out in order to assuage people. The Data Protection Commissioner has already made a ruling in this regard, although I understand it is under appeal. That ruling was damning of the Government’s capacity to handle people’s data.
Sentiment score: 0.23
The Minister stated that people can put their date of birth on it if they wish and that everything will be absolutely opt-in all the time but that is not true. The moment something like this is brought in, it becomes compulsory. Those aged over 65 have an entitlement to access the free travel scheme but they must have this card to do so. If people do not want to have the card, they are simply locked out of the scheme. When the Minister says that something will be voluntary, such as the public services card, it is not the case. The only thing people are volunteering to do is not have their lawful entitlement to the free travel scheme if they are over 65. Does the Minister understand why people are naturally suspicious about this? In the Minster’s answers, he talked a lot about it being voluntary and people opting in. In truth, however, the PSC is no longer voluntary, particularly for those over 65. People do not have the choice to opt in. We are doing pre-legislative scrutiny on the social welfare Bill. It is a fairly big piece of legislation and changes to the PSC are contained within it. I am putting the Minister on notice that those changes will be resisted by me and the Opposition more broadly because there is no trust when it comes to the holding and collection of data.
Sentiment score: 0.06
3. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has given consideration to an emergency cost-of-living payment to vulnerable households at risk of poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31203/26]
Sentiment score: -0.28
As the Government seems to be blissfully unaware, there is a cost-of-living crisis. We know this from the numbers of people in energy arrears. We also know this from the figures from Barnardos and other agencies. This is backed up by the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, data. My question is simple. In light of the announcement of a surplus last week, has the Minister given any consideration to a cost-of-living payment for those vulnerable households at risk of poverty?
Sentiment score: -0.19
The Minister will know that, before the war in Iran, 330,000 households were already in arrears with their bills. The average household arrears are €470. The Minister is playing ducks and drakes with percentages and references to millions of euro. The figure for the average arrears for household energy bills is €470 and the extension to the fuel allowance is worth €136. The Minister can see how those figures do not add up. The Taoiseach referred to October and January, but if people are struggling now, what is the Minister prepared to do for those households that are at risk of or are in poverty? They cannot pay their bills today and cannot wait until the budget in October and the measures to be introduced in January. That is far too long for people to wait.
Sentiment score: -0.09
I am a constituency TD, as is the Minister. I listen to my constituents and I have talked to people in my own party. From our read of it, there is a need for an intervention from the Government. We have proposed €400 in energy credits, a cut to the USC, which would be worth €500, €400 in emergency welfare payments and a €500 cost-of-disability payment, as well as an additional eight weeks on the fuel allowance because that is what people need. Last February, I was ten years in the Dáil. The Minister has been here longer. I have never experienced the level of poverty that I see in my constituency offices in Balbriggan and Rush. I have never seen anything like it. My constituency manager would say the same thing. People are desperate and being put to the pin of their collar. We are not making this up in the Opposition. This is coming to us. The Minister saw people on the streets, not just in tractors, but in wheelchairs, telling the Government very clearly that they were making choices between heating, eating and charging their mobility devices. The time for intervention is now.
Sentiment score: 0.02