Ireland’s controversial Public Services Card (PSC) has provoked an international incident, with a war of words breaking out between Ireland’s Government and a top United Nations (UN) official.
Last month (April) UN Special Rapporteur at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Philip Alston (pictured) wrote a letter to the Irish Government accusing the PSC of being, among other things, discriminatory against the less well-off in Irish society.
It is believed that letter was delayed after the Government exerted pressure on the OHCHR.
Now it has been released with a stinging response from Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney.
In the correspondence, Mr Coveney noted his disappointment that efforts by the Government to engage with Professor Alston on “these critically important issues” were not answered.
“I would like to reiterate the Irish Government’s clear position that the PSC is properly grounded in law and does not contravene any of Ireland’s human rights obligations,” Mr Coveney wrote.
Mr Coveney, who is also the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) derided the fact that Professor Alston had not taken up a standing invitation to visit Ireland officially during his tenure.
Professor Alston returned fire, stating that the Government’s response had “failed to address any of the key concerns” of his letter.
He said that any efforts by the Government to engage with him were limited to two occasions — the first followed an unofficial visit last August in which he had been similarly critical of the card which led to a letter from the Department of Social Protection saying “everyone loves it (the PSC) and there’s no problem”.
He said the second occasion followed the delivery of his new letter, which he said amounted to an attempt to delay its publication.
“The PSC is actually a key plank in a broader strategy of digital transformation. That will lead to it becoming a de facto national biometric identity card,” Professor Alston said.
“There hasn’t been the necessary debate to agree on the shape of such a card, the purposes for which it will be required, or the protections against abuse and for privacy that are an indispensable part of any such system.” he said.
Dublin, 24 April, 2020
