According to media reports, government ministers have discussed using the Social Welfare and Other Matters Bill 2026 to make the PSC an acceptable form of ID.

This is despite last year’s decision by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) which found that the Department of Employment and Social Protection unlawfully processed the facial biometric data of up to 70 per cent of the population over a 15-year period.

The Department has since failed to meet a DPC deadline of 9 March 2026 to identify a lawful basis for this processing or bring it to an end.

Dr TJ McIntyre, chair of Digital Rights Ireland, said: “The PSC was originally introduced for social welfare purposes. Now it is being turned into a de facto national identity card.

“There has been no public debate about introducing a national identity card and no proper legislative framework. The government has deliberately confused the issue with jargon and add-ons like ‘SAFE2 and ‘mygovid’ which have no basis in law.

“The DPC has made a finding that the biometric data processing underpinning the PSC is unlawful.”

Olga Cronin, senior policy officer at Enforce, ICCL, added: “Despite the warnings, the government is allowing the PSC to be turned into an unlegislated, badly planned national identity card system without considering the data protection implications.

“It is at risk of normalising unregulated mass surveillance and undermining public trust at a very sensitive time.”