A Department of Social Protection office will be transferred from Ballybay to Monaghan town because of the expansion of the public service cards process, the Dáil has heard.

Minister of State Kevin Humphreys said the 29 staff operated in two adjoining but separately owned buildings in Ballybay, which were in "poor condition and not considered appropriate for the existing business processes or future operational requirements". The service is to be expanded with a further eight jobs created to process the cards.

The new public services identification card will replace the free travel pass and the social services card and will eventually be used all adults in the State.

The Minister said it was designed “to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customers” and was “intended to enable individuals to gain access to public services more efficiently and with a minimum of duplication of effort”, while preserving privacy.

Government backbencher Seán Conlan appealed for the jobs to be retained in Ballybay. It was a small town with a population of 1,500 people, and the loss of 30 jobs “would be the equivalent of losing 300 jobs in a town with a population of 15,000 people”, he said.

The Cavan-Monaghan TD said he was “very concerned about the way the department has handled the issue” and he claimed five property owners who had offered premises in Ballybay had not been given adequate responses.

The Minister told him significant investment would be required and would take a year to finish, which did not fit the required timetable.

“It was decided that the properties on offer in Ballybay could not meet these requirements in terms of cost and time,” he said.

Co Monaghan is the only county with no customer-facing public service card office, he said.