Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. will install biometric-reading technology in every hospital and doctor's surgery as part of its identity card project, Home Office minister Hazel Blears said.

``We also want to make sure that only the people who're entitled to use our public services like the National Health Service, making sure that people who contribute to it can use it and those who don't, can't,'' Blears told Bloomberg TV. ``So, where it is necessary, then we will have to have the technology in place to read the cards.''

Blears, whose boss, Home Secretary David Blunkett, addresses the Labour Party conference in Brighton, south England, today, said new technology would help in the fight against crime and terror, and praised the use of Taser stun guns by police.

Blunkett announced in April plans to issue very citizen with an ID card containing biometric data such as fingerprint and retinal scans, a move he said would combat identity fraud and terrorism.

Anyone who wanted to use the card to verify identity would need equipment to take biometric readings and also read the cards. Potential users include banks, post offices, government offices, real estate agents and lawyers.

Manufacturers of fingerprint identification and other electronic security applications include Identix Inc., Cogent Inc., Viisage Technology Inc., Communication Intelligence and Paris-based Sagem SA., as well as many smaller, privately held companies. Nuance Communications Inc. sells voice authentication software.

ID CARDS

Companies that sell ID cards and other security technology include Lasercard Systems Corp., a subsidiary of Drexler Technology Corp.; Northrop Gruman Corp.; Qinetiq Plc.; De La Rue Plc.; Electronic Data Systems Corp and Schlumberger Ltd.

The government estimates the ID card project, which will require a database containing biometric data for all 59 million people in the U.K., will cost between 1.3 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) and 3.1 billion pounds. It is paying PA Consulting Group, a U.K. management consultant, to advise on the plan.

The U.K.'s tax-funded National Health Service, Europe's largest employer, offers most treatments at low or no cost. The government proposal addresses concerns that so-called ``health tourists'' will travel from overseas for treatment.

``We're going to start off by building biometrics into the things we've got, building biometrics into passports, into driving licenses,'' Blears said. ``We think that this technology will be there right across the world, so we want to be at the forefront of this.

``We're going to be making a substantial investment from government and we have no doubt that the private sector will also want to take this forward.''

The U.K. announced Sept. 15 plans to issue stun guns made by Taser International Inc. to police across the country, and Blears praised the effectiveness of the weapons in trials.

``Quite often there wasn't a need to fire the Taser,'' she said. ``The very fact that people knew it would be used was sufficient to deter and change their behavior. We've limited it to those officers who're tried to used firearms, and I think that's important. These are serious matters of judgment in pretty serious situations.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London on rhutton1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 29, 2004 08:24 EDT