Department Housing, Planning and Local Government (Register of Users)

Updated: June 2019

Does your organisation use the PPSN at present?

Yes

If so, for what purpose?

Payroll and HR Management :- PPSN is used for many HR related purposes. This includes managing employees’ salary, taxation, pensions and social welfare matters. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government operate its payroll as part of a shared service; therefore, the PPSNs are exchanged with the Financial Shared Service operated by the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) in Killarney.

Payments -The PPSN is used as part of the invoicing process (e.g. sole traders)

FOI and Subject Access Requests : Although PPSNs are not a requirement, customers requesting personal records under the FOI and GDPR legislation may submit official documentation that includes their PPSN as proof of identification.

Water Conservation Grant - the PPSN is used to set up EFT payments and issue payments to customers where cheques have gone out of date. Instances of this are very limited as the scheme closed in October 2015.

Applications for the Domestic Well Grant- The grant is administered by Local Authorities on behalf of the Department and details are passed to the Department to facilitate recoupment of payments to the Local Authorities. The grant scheme will shortly be revised and PPSN will no longer be required for application purposes.

Thatching Grant - Grant applications which are made directly to the Department require inclusion of PPSN in order to make payments.

Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability – Private Houses: Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities. PPSN is required to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.

Shared Ownership/Affordable Housing Scheme : - Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities. PPSN is required to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.

Mortgage Allowance Scheme Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities. PPSN is required to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.

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

Payroll and HR Management: PPSNs are shared with the NSSO and DEASP for HR purposes.
Payments: PPSN is not shared with any other body.
FOI and Subject Access Requests: PPSN is not shared with any other body.
Water Conservation Grant: Occasionally personal data in relation to the Water Conservation Grant is shared with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ascertain the subject’s eligibility for the grant (DEASP hold the database for the Water Conservation Grant).
Applications for the Domestic Well Grant: The grant is administered by Local Authorities on behalf of the Department and the details are passed to the Department to facilitate recoupment of payments to the Local Authorities. The grant scheme will shortly be revised and PPSN will no longer be required for application purposes.
Thatching Grant: The PPSN is not exchanged with any other bodies.
Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability – Private Houses: Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities and the PPSN is shared with the Department to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.
Shared Ownership/Affordable Housing Scheme: Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities and the PPSN is shared with the Department to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.
Mortgage Allowance Scheme: Applications for this scheme are processed by Local Authorities and the PPSN is shared with the Department to facilitate verification and recoupment of grant funding to the Local Authorities.

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

The Department has no plans to extend the use of the PPSN.

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 PPSN data is secure and is processed and accessible for the stated purposes only.