Personal Public Service Number
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| Public Service identifier overview | |
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| Formed | April 1979 |
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
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The Personal Public Service Number (PPS No) (Irish: Uimhir Phearsanta Seirbhíse Poiblí, or Uimh. PSP) is an identifier issued by the Client Identity Services section of the Department of Social Protection, on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection in Ireland.
The PPSN was known as the Revenue and Social Insurance Number (RSI No) until 1998. RSI Numbers were first issued in April 1979 as a replacement for the separate PAYE Number and Social Welfare Insurance Number which had been used for income tax and social welfare purposes respectively until then. The PAYE Number was issued by the Revenue Commissioners and these numbers were transferred to the RSI No system as a basis for the unified system.
The format of the number is a unique alphanumeric in the general form 8765432AA. The number is assigned at the registration of birth of the child and is issued on a "Public Services Card" often when a child reaches the legal age of employment, currently 16, otherwise a "Letter of Entitlement" is issued. The same format was used by the Department of Education and Skills as the "Pupil Number" since 1994 and this caused some concern and confusion as it was in the same format and used the same check character formula, but more often different from the PPS No. In August 2000 the department instigated a programme to remove the Pupil Number and replace it with the PPS No in future on records. By September 2001, the Pupil Number was fully withdrawn.
The format is seven numeric characters (including leading zeros), a check character and sometimes a second letter, which if it exists, will normally be an A (for individuals) or an H (for non-individuals, e.g., limited companies, trusts, etc.) In some cases, this second letter may be a W, which was used for women - "W" from "wife" – who married and automatically adopted the same number as their husband, though this practice stopped in 1999 chiefly due to equal rights concerns. The present policy is that these W numbers are eliminated when the bearer's husband dies, or when they become separated or divorced.
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