Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Before discussing the substantive issue, I wish put on the record with regard to amendments on pensions on Report Stage that Deputy Clare Daly wishes to state that the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Act 2013 introduced what were called single insolvencies, which allow a profitable private company to wind down their pension scheme and to remove pension scheme members from existing pension arrangements. This effectively happened with the Irish aviation superannuation scheme, IASS. The OECD has recommended that no scheme should be permitted to wind down unless it is 90% funded. That type of funding level makes some allowance for decent benefits to be paid out to members. That must be examined along with abolishing single insolvencies. We will table amendments on it on Report Stage. I mention it now because there is nowhere else to mention it.

On section 12, FLAC, the free legal advice centres, contacted most of the members about a few amendments it wished to propose. It made the point that the explanatory memorandum states that in order to facilitate reviews of entitlement where child benefit is payable in accordance with EU regulations, section 12 provides for an amendment to require employers to provide information relating to child benefit claims. In effect, according to FLAC, section 12 proposes to provide wide powers to the Minister for Social Protection to enact regulations to compel all employers to provide information on employees for the purpose of determining entitlement to child benefit claims. Child benefit is classified as a family benefit for the purpose of EU regulations. Accordingly, EU nationals who come to Ireland to work but whose family resides in other EU member states have an entitlement to family benefits in Ireland under EU regulations. This means that EU migrants can access child benefit in Ireland even if their children live in another EU member state. FLAC and Community Law & Mediation, CLM, have a number of concerns about this proposed provision and how it will operate in practice. In particular, they are unclear as to the necessity for such a provision.

First, section 12 as currently drafted does not fulfil its stated aim of applying solely to child benefit claims payable in accordance with EU regulations. The proposed wording is extremely broad and goes beyond its stated intended scope to relate to any child benefit claims. Given that the employment status of an Irish parent is immaterial to a child benefit claim, it is likely that the Department will only contact employers for information regarding non-Irish nationals if the provision is maintained in its current form.

Second, FLAC says the need for such a measure is questionable in light of the responsibility on all social welfare applicants to prove to the Department that they qualify for the payment they are applying for, including child benefit payments payable in accordance with EU regulations. It is not clear why the Department is seeking to place legal obligations on employers to provide information regarding child benefit claims for EU migrant workers when the onus is already on those workers to establish their eligibility for the payment.

Third, information confirming the employment status of an EU migrant worker in Ireland will often be available to the Department of Social Protection through social insurance contribution records. To be considered an EU migrant worker, a person must have been in genuine employment since coming to Ireland. Casual work does not count. Where an EU migrant worker is engaged in genuine employment in Ireland, they and their employer will be making social insurance contributions to the Department of Social Protection, thus the need for this measure is unclear.

Finally, there are also privacy concerns about this proposal. Employers will be required to provide information in respect of child benefit and may become privy to personal information regarding the family situation of their employees which is of no relevance to the employment relationship.

Is this really the right place to include an amendment of this sort? I would like to hear the view of the Department on these issues and to tease them out further with the Minister.