Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his future plans for the application of the residency clause in respect of persons from the EU accession states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32314/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I have already described in my answer to Deputy Enright's question the reasons for the introduction of the habitual residence condition and the effect of the condition, so I will confine this answer to the EU aspect of Deputy Durkan's question. The habitual residence condition does not introduce any distinctions based on citizenship, nationality or any other factor, and it applies equally to all claimants for the relevant schemes.

EU regulations provide that EEA nationals who are migrant workers, that is those who are employed or self-employed in this country, or those who are receiving the Irish jobseeker's benefit since being in employment here, are entitled to payment of family benefits. EU regulations also provide for the payment of supplementary welfare allowance, including rent supplement, to migrant workers. Former workers who continue to be treated as workers for this latter purpose include those who have been temporarily laid off because of illness or those who have become unemployed, are genuinely seeking work and have registered with FÁS.

The EU regulations permit a residence condition to be applied in the case of other assistance schemes, such as the jobseeker's allowance or the non-contributory state pension. The protections afforded are specifically for migrant workers, not for those who move between member states for other reasons, or who have failed to obtain genuine or effective work since their arrival in the host state. These regulations apply equally to nationals of all member states. Therefore, although differences will arise in the circumstances of each individual case, there is no distinction in principle in the application of the habitual residence condition between nationals of the older member states and nationals of the newer member states.

The operation of the condition was reviewed by my Department in 2006 and the report of the review was published early this year. The full content of the review may be accessed on the Department's website www.welfare.ie. It is not proposed to introduce any changes to the current policy in this regard, as the original reason for the policy is still valid.