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MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT Shane Ross has said civil servants in his department were “vindicated” over their concerns around the Public Services Card (PSC), following the findings of the Data Protection Commissioner’s report into its legality.
A summary of that report – which the government has so far refused to publish in full – outlined how there is no legal basis for making a PSC mandatory for services other than social welfare and benefits.
This week, the Data Protection Commission said it would be seeking enforcement action against the government for its refusal to act on the findings of the report.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Ross said officials in department “did the right thing” by flagging their issues with making the card a mandatory requirement for a driving test, despite other government departments pushing the card for other services.
At least €2 million was ploughed into the project of making a PSC a requirement for getting a driving test before the minister pulled the plug in March 2018.
Documents released to TheJournal.ie under the freedom of information act showed that the Road Safety Authority (RSA), the body responsible for driving tests, had grave concerns about the legality of the card.
Senior RSA officials repeatedly questioned the Department of Transport, the authority’s parent body and the main driver behind the project, as to whether or not using the card as the only means to obtain a licence would in fact be legal, and were reassured that was indeed the case by the most senior civil servant in the department.
However, over a period of months into early 2018, that position changed.
Ross told the RSA, via his officials, that the plan could not proceed as projected due to the fact specific legislation would have to be drafted in order for it to do so, a position taken following consultation with the office of the Attorney General.
The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection subsequently wrote to the Department of Transport that this decision would suggest that there were “problems” with the PSC process.
In considering the message, a senior civil servant at the Department of Transport expressed fundamental concerns regarding the whole project.
“The deeper I look into this whole matter the more concerned I get and the greater the number of fundamental questions arise,” they wrote.
In another piece of correspondence, an official wrote: “The minister is having significant doubts about this… we got similar assurance but with little confidence that the [Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection] really grasp the likely impact, in both numbers and, critically, different users to their usual client base.”
In removing it as a requirement for a driving test and theory test, Ross was acting on the concerns of officials at his department and the RSA.
Furthermore, Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon told TheJournal.ie last month that it was “misleading” to claim that having a PSC makes applying for your driving licence easier, as was claimed on the National Driver’s Licence Service website.
Speaking two weeks after the landmark findings of the Data Protection Commissioner on the legality of the PSC were made public, Minister Ross said he had to give “full credit to the civil servants” in his department.
“It was the civil servants who spotted this, and they did issue the warning,” he said.
I do think that the people in my department who pointed this out were doing the right thing, and were maybe were more pressing than others, and they’ve been vindicated.
With reporting from Christina Finn, Cianan Brennan
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It sometime feels like there are 42 million on it at the same time.
They need to build an underground line from the city centre to sandyford with option to upgrade later to further out or find an above ground option to link all the way to bray or shankill. This should skip most stop and essentially be an express to the city. Have a stop at say dundrum, charlemont and also Oconnell st. The luas should stay as an alternate option. It is how most big cities work. There is no doubt that it would be heavily utilised and would dramatically reduce road usage as well as relieving pressure on passengers using the luas for smaller journeys.
Shutting the luas for several years to put a heavy rail in its place really isn’t an option anymore
@thephantomshit:
most cities have more than one line going north-south and east-west.
The pizza needs to be split into more than just quarters. Interestingly, bus-connects is exactly this plan if we could allow it to proceed. These dedicated transport corridors could be upgraded to tram and eventualy metro once the demand rises.
@thephantomshit:
and metro is not heavy rail, its light rail, same as tram.
@Tim Pot: metro is classed as heavy rail
@joe: well it depends who you ask (as usual)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_rail_terminology
But it seems metro is probably not considered light rail either, so I am equally wrong.
Dublin is crying out for better transport infrastructure. Areas such as Knocklyon, Templeogue, Rathfarnham and Terenure badly need a metro (or at least a Luas line). Taking an hour and a half to get into the city centre on the 15 bus is a joke.
@Kev: or a dedicated high frequency bus lane as is proposed…
@Kev: Same story for me in Rathcoole. An hour and a half to travel 12 miles. I lived in Dusseldorf 20 yrs ago. Used to make a 35 mile journey in 50 mins.
@Tim Pot: you cannot compare a bus lane to a metro line or a tram line. Have you had your first morning coffee yet?
@Kev:
High freqency transport on a dedicated lane is the exact same concept for bus, tram, metro and commuter rail. The only difference is capacity.
All Southside green LUAS should terminate in Bride’s Glen. In the mornings every 2nd tram arriving at Sandyford is full of people. This extra capacity is available right now at minimal cost.
@Stuart: Or have a few that start only a Bride’s Glen. People from Sandyford obviously created the demand required for the service.
@Ashling Fenton: the original terminus was Sandyford due to the presence of the old Harcourt rail line and ease of construction. The line starting to wind over bridges after that. Once Cherrywood starts filling out, the LUAS will lag demand by about 2 years further exacerbating all the problems. Unless they move “non-location sensitive” office jobs from town out to Cherrywood. Lots of banks in town have thousands of staff who don’t need to be on the Liffey.
Does that include rogue luas surfers?
The core issue as always with public transport is population density. Dublin is spread out and by any criteria is not a high density city. It’s a chicken and egg situation. People move further out to get “affordable” housing. This makes providing decent public transport much harder. The State needs to take a large leap of faith and invest in public transport – knowing that in time the city will in-fill as people choose to live in areas with good public transport. But this needs to go hand in hand with a good planning and housing policy. Chicken and egg. Planning and investment is the name of the game. If we can’t get it right in Dublin the rest of the country has no chance.
Does that include the lovely chaps. Hanging around the luas stops, looking for change and shooting up?
An insane amount of passengers on just two lines and the Red’s dinky Tallaght branch. 15 years and basically the same as we had in the beginning. Start building more lines, get Metrolink started asap and get the DART expanded to Drogheda, M3 Parkway, Maynooth and Hazelhatch by 2025 at the latest.
Great service just a pity it doesn’t cover more area’s at this stage
If ever this proves that we need a citywide underground system. Forget bus corridors and get on with a metro system and stop stalling!
@Arthur FitzPatrick:
if you are lucky you will get a bus corridor in less than 5 years. You would be waiting 15 years for any metro..
The Luas is also becoming very unreliable. There’s issues with signalling every other day, not to mention incidents with cars/passengers/pedestrians.
Is the Luas Irelands only light rail system?
@thesaltyurchin: yep
@Darren Bates: figured. *gets back in car.
What a very successful company. Proud of an Irish success. Pity our Government TD’s weren’t as diligent in their jobs.
@Me Darlin’ Dublin: the luas owned by a French Company
@Tadgh carley: it’s in public ownership actually. Owned by the state, run under licence by Transdev.
@Tadgh carley: the Government owned by Builders and Vulture funds and German French and British banks. Give the Irish workers some credit.
@Tadgh carley: They dont own it. They manage it. The company is called Transdev.
When the m50 was getting a extra lang was a time to run the tram from red cow to airport.
Start the metro now. Forget the moaners at Beechwood get the metro out to Sandyford.
That line needs a capacity upgrade!
We need an orbital underground for Dublin, NOW no just a mickeymouse line in from the airport to someone near Dublin central
How about a Luas or Metro to the Airport and beyond and not just to Swords. It almost as if towns out that way are non-existent
Looking forward to a long winter of trying to squeeze onto already jam-packed Luas’ at Heuston only for it to stop at multiple junctions and traffic lights and barely speed up all the way to the IFSC *sigh*
Are the fare dodgers included in these figures one wonders!!
have your say