A MOTHER FROM Limerick has asked the Department of Social Protection to change her child’s PPS number as it contains 666.
The figure is referred to as the ‘number of the beast’ in chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
Limerick TD Willie O’Dea raised the issue in the Dáil with Tánaiste Joan Burton this week.
He said the woman had requested the change “on religious grounds”.
The Social Protection Minister told him the PPS Number would not be amended.
She said the numbers “are automatically allocated to children born in the State once the birth is registered within three months of the date of birth”.
“The number allocated is randomly selected from the series of numbers available.
In general, PPS Numbers are only changed where a person’s number has been compromised. As no new information has been provided in this regard, there is no basis for changing the PPS Number in this instance.
A spokesperson for O’Dea told the Limerick Leader the woman “felt uncomfortable with her child having this number”.
“The woman is not particularly superstitious but has more of a dislike to the associations of those digits. She has now been advised emphatically by the department that they wouldn’t change the number, as it’s done automatically.”
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