Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. (Register of Users)

Yes

Employee Administration purposes

Employee PPSN details are used by the department for various staff administration processes including payroll, travel and subsistence, and tax and social welfare matters. The PPSN is a unique identifier for each member of staff, used to record individual staff members with the civil service National Shared Services Office (NSSO) and in communications with the Chief Medical Officer’s office and with other government departments.

Payment of Suppliers

Occasionally a sole trader, who does not have any other tax reference number, may provide the department with their PPSN to enable the operation of tax clearance with the Revenue Commissioners and in order that the department complies with its statutory obligation in relation to tax clearance.

Schemes Administration purposes

The department uses PPSN details as a client identifier across a range of schemes. In particular:

• the PPSN is used for registration and client identification purposes across a number of childcare schemes (parents and children’s PPSN details), to assess eligibility and to facilitate appeals
• the PPSN is used as a unique identifier for individuals who apply for qualifications recognition to enable them to work in the pre-school / Early Years sector in Ireland
• the PPSN is used for the verification of applicants as individuals when applying to the Nurturing Skills Learner Fund (NSLF). The NSLF scheme enables Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare staff to further their education while continuing their employment in the sector

Employee Administration purposes

The PPSN is exchanged with the Revenue Commissioners in relation to taxation matters and Department of Social Protection in relation to administration of social welfare records and entitlements. In addition, PPSN details relating to employees are exchanged with the civil service National Shared Services Office (NSSO) for HR and payroll purposes, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Public Appointments Service (PAS). PPSNs are also shared with other government departments in the context of staff transfers.

Payment of Suppliers

When the PPSN is used as part of an invoice payment process (e.g. a sole trader) it is checked with the Revenue Commissioners in order that the department complies with its statutory obligation in relation to tax clearance. PPSNs may be shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit purposes. PPSNs are also shared with the Department of Health, which provides shared services for our Financial Management System.

Schemes Administration purposes

Childcare schemes are administered on behalf of the department by Pobal. The PPSN is used as a unique identifier for registration, payment and query purposes, and is checked with the Department of Social Protection to prove identity. PPSN data will be collected for the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and exchanged with the Department of Social Protection and with Revenue in order to prove identity and obtain applicant data in relation to income. The NCS data exchange will involve data processing via the MyGovID portal. In addition, applications for certain targeted childcare supports requires certain data (including the PPSN) to be shared with relevant bodies involved in processing the applications and providing supports (e.g. Pobal, the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the City and County Childcare Committees). Some of these bodies are used by the department as an agent to carry out our public functions e.g. Pobal for childcare scheme payment purposes.

No.

There is a duty to ensure compliance with the principles of processing personal data which are set out in Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the GDPR. These principles are summarised as follows

• process it lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner
• collect it only for one or more specified, explicit and legitimate purposes, and do not otherwise use it in a way that is incompatible with those purposes
• ensure it is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purpose it is processed
• keep it accurate and up-to-date and erase or rectify any inaccurate data without delay
• where it is kept in a way that allows you to identify who the data is about, retain it for no longer than is necessary
• keep it secure by using appropriate technical and/or organisational security measures
• be able to demonstrate your compliance with the above principles; and
• respond to requests by individuals seeking to exercise their data protection rights (for example the right of access

Yes, there are adequate measures in place to ensure that the PPSN data is secure and is processed and accessible only for the stated purposes.