Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Bannon is getting a bonus today because this was not in the official reply but I want to clarify the matter.

In 2006, out of 5,813 carer's allowance applications awarded, 27 were refused on the habitual residency condition; in 2007, 32 out of 9,000 were refused; in 2008, 44 out of 15,000 were refused; and in 2009, 126 out of 10,000 were refused. To date in 2010, 139 out of 4,150 were refused. Therefore, the numbers are relatively small. It is a difficult issue and I have found as much myself. The real challenge is that one cannot treat the citizens of any EU country differently and, therefore, the Irish person must be treated the same as a citizen of any other state. It is also fair to say that one could not do away with habitual residency condition because the consequences to our very good social security system would be horrendous.

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