Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It is easy to cite cases that do not stand up. The agencies working in the area, Crosscare and FLAC, have approached all of us with examples of cases in which Irish people seem to have been hard done by through the operation of the habitual residency condition. The Minister should see how it goes with carer's allowance by removing the condition because the numbers are small. On the basis of the cases presented to us, there is a strong case to be made for removing the condition in respect of that payment.

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