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

Does your organisation use the PPSN at present?
If so, for what purpose?
Does your organisation exchange the PPS number with any other body? If so please name the relevant bodies and the purpose(s) of the exchange?
Does your organisation have any other plans involving the use of the PPS number?
Have you measures in place to ensure that the Public Service Identity data you hold/collect whether in electronic or written format is in line with the GDPR Principles described above?

Does your organisation use the PPSN at present?

Yes

If so, for what purpose?

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

Does your organisation exchange the PPS number with any other body? If so please name the relevant bodies and the purpose(s) of the exchange?

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.

Does your organisation have any other plans involving the use of the PPS number?

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

Have you measures in place to ensure that the Public Service Identity data you hold/collect whether in electronic or written format is in line with the GDPR Principles described above?

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.