Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 6, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following:

3.—The Minister shall as soon as may be after the passing of this Act prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on removing Carer's Allowance from the list of welfare payments requiring the Habitual Residence Condition to be met.

This amendment relates to the habitual residency condition and its application to carer's allowance. We debated this matter at length on Committee Stage. The aim of the amendment is to remove the habitual residence condition as it relates to carer's allowance. Statistics indicate a low risk of abuse in respect of this payment. Between mid-2004 and mid-2006, only 114 people were refused carer's allowance. Of these, 36 were Irish.

There are other tests relating to the payment, for example, the requirement that a carer must be in a position to provide full-time care and attention, which protect it from abuse. It would be appropriate to require that the person being cared for must be resident here for a certain period. As matters stand, carers who move here from abroad in order to look after a relative are unsure of their income support status. The Minister would not be opening the floodgates if the HRC rule was removed from the carer's allowance.

On Committee Stage, we discussed the phenomenon of Irish people who live abroad, for example, in the US or the UK, who want to return home for a few months or a couple of years in order to care for elderly relatives but who do not want to move here permanently. We should facilitate people who wish to return home to provide care.

By suggesting the habitual residence condition be removed in respect of carer's allowance, I am not stating it should be made available only to Irish people. The allowance should be made available to anybody who makes a claim. However, the Minister could provide a safeguard in respect of it by requiring that a person who requires care should be resident in the State for a particular period. I do not believe anyone in the House would disagree with a system whereby people returning home to care, for example, for an elderly mother, should be denied payment.

See this speech in context