The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, has said that he is in consultation with the Irish Government around the implementation of mandatory ID cards in the UK.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Benn accepted that there is opposition in Northern Ireland around the implementation of the cards.
However, he said that he was talking to the Irish Government about how UK digital ID cards will work in practice.
"I'm sure it will not be beyond the wit of all of us to find a way that upholds the Good Friday Agreement (and) the Common Travel Area but move in a direction of digital ID", he said.
Asked if he thought the Irish Government could implement its own version of a mandatory ID card, he said, "we'll have to have discussions about how we're going to do that in practice and that's why there will be this consultation, which will be extremely important in answering the very reasonable questions that you and others are asking".
Last week, the British government announced plans for a mandatory ID card to tackle illegal working.
The digital ID, described as a "Brit-card", has been strongly criticised by parties in Northern Ireland.
At a fringe event at the Labour party conference, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described the cards as "misguided, unacceptable and clearly ludicrous".
A spokesperson for the Irish Government has said that there are no plans to introduce mandatory ID cards in the Republic of Ireland.
