The Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is to query State spending on the Public Services Card (PSC).

The Data Protection Commission and Commissioner Helen Dixon will appear before the committee on Thursday.

State spending on the Public Services Card project is estimated to be €60m.

It comes amid an expected legal challenge by the Government against a Data Protection Commission finding that the PSC was used unlawfully.

A report last month also called for people's data to be deleted if it was not related to welfare services.

The body completed an initial investigation into the way the Government has been using the card - and warned that it was in breach of several aspects of data protection law.

File photo of the Data Commissioner, Helen Dixon | Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Officials from the Department of Justice will also attend the meeting on Thursday - which will also include an examination of the financial statements for the Data Protection Commission for 2018.

The committee will examine correspondence received in recent weeks from various Government departments and State bodies.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) was established in May 2018, and replaced the former Office of the Data Protection Commission (ODPC).

The PAC will review the accounts of the former ODPC from January to May 2018, and the financial statements of the new DPC from May to December.

The combined expenditure of the two bodies last year was €8.3m, the bulk of which was funded by the Oireachtas.

This included over €1m in legal costs and settlements.