Usage
The number is currently used for a number of public services including education, health, housing, social welfare and tax however the net is widening raising concern about functionality creep. The number is underpinned in legislation by the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 2005 (Section 262) and a number of amendments, including data protection, has expanded its legal use as well as defining improper usage.
The number has already been issued automatically to everyone born in the Republic of Ireland since January 1971 and those who commenced or were in employment since April 1979 - the primary trigger today for the numbers' issue is birth registration. A PPS number can be applied for at a PPS Number allocation centre. Applicants should show the reason for requiring a PPS Number, and provide Photographic ID and proof of address.
Since 2001, a significant proportion of the Pitcairn (Pitcairn Islands) population (21 people) has been given a Personal Public Service Number in Ireland, which is required for work, taxes and social benefits.
Read more about this topic: Personal Public Service Number
Famous quotes containing the word usage:
“...Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, “It depends.” And what it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.”
—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)
“Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don’t are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word. Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn’t put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady. What you have probably found is a lesbian.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1951)
“I am using it [the word ‘perceive’] here in such a way that to say of an object that it is perceived does not entail saying that it exists in any sense at all. And this is a perfectly correct and familiar usage of the word.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)