Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Carer's allowance is a means tested social welfare payment for people providing full-time care and attention to people who need it. In line with social assistance payments generally, one of the eligibility requirements for carer's allowance is that the applicant be habitually resident in the State.

All applicants, regardless of nationality, are required to be habitually resident in the State in order to qualify for carer's allowance. The question of what is a person's "habitual residence" is decided in accordance with European Court of Justice case law, which sets out the criteria to be applied in determining whether a person is habitually resident.

Each case received for a determination on the habitual residence condition is dealt with in its own right and a decision is based on application of the guidelines to the particular individual circumstances of each case. Any applicant who disagrees with the decision of a deciding officer has the right to appeal to the social welfare appeals office.

The habitual residence condition is being operated in a careful manner to ensure that Ireland's social welfare system is protected, while at the same time ensuring that people whose cases are appropriate to the system have access to it when they need it. The operation of the condition was reviewed by my Department in 2006 and the report of the review was published on 1 February 2007. The full content of the review may be accessed on the Department's website, www.welfare.ie. I have no plans to further review the application of the habitual residence condition at this time.

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