The Personal Public Service Number (PPS Number) (, or ) 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 the Republic of Ireland. The PPS Number 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. Today, the PPS Number is used for accessing a wide range of public services in Ireland. The Department of Social Protection maintains a list of bodies that are legally authorised to use the PPS Number. Everyone born in Ireland from 1971 onwards has a PPS Number: it is now assigned as part of the birth registration process. Similarly, a PPS Number has been assigned to anyone who has worked or received a Social Welfare payment in Ireland since 1979. Public Services Card The PPS Number is a key element of the Public Services Card (PSC) issued by the Department of Social Protection. The PSC is designed to help people easily and safely authenticate their identity when they need to access public services. The front of the card holds a person’s name, photograph and signature, along with the card expiry date. The back of the card holds the person’s PPS number and a card number. It also holds a magnetic stripe to enable social welfare payments such as pensions to be collected at post offices. For people who are entitled to free travel, the card will also display this information in the top left-hand corner. The PSC was first introduced in 2011 for social welfare payments and is now being rolled out to other public services. It replaces both the Social Services Card, withdrawn by January 2014, and the old paper Free Travel Pass, which was phased out by 1 January 2016. PPS Number format The format of the number is a unique alphanumeric in the general form 8765432A/A. The same format was used by the Department of Education as the "Pupil Number" since 1994 and this caused some concern and confusion as it was