Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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As the Minister of State is aware, it can cost up to €2,000 per week to provide care to an older person in a residential nursing home in the public sector. It costs the State about €200 per week for a carer, who is, more often than not, an immediate relative, to provide round the clock care for a parent, aunt or uncle in his or her home through the provision of the carer's allowance. This State officially denies that basic level of support to emigrants who return home in a parent's time of need to look after the people who took care of them when they were growing up. Many returning emigrants, because they do not satisfy the Department's habitual residency clause, are not officially entitled to receive any recognition or financial support from the State to provide the care they feel duty bound to undertake. The Minister of State is aware that they do not qualify for a carer's payment if they have not been resident in the State in the previous two years. The local community welfare officer also appears to be prevented from providing any support to help a family make ends meet and to recognise the role of the carer under such circumstances.

The habitual residency clause, as the House will be aware, was introduced for very good reasons in May 2004. Nobody wants to see opportunistic exploitation of the social welfare system. This week, I came across the case of a woman who does not meet the habitual residency requirements and who is returning to Drogheda to look after her mother who is awaiting an organ transplant. This demands a review of this system and that we insist on a process that takes into account the reality of life and the need for the social protection system to respond in a humane manner that respects the dignity of the carer and the people for whom care is provided. We should identify a better way. There may be no more than 100 such people and perhaps even fewer who experience this issue in any given year. At a small cost, we could and should provide urgent assistance to families who most need help in a time of crisis and emotional strain. Where specific sets of circumstances apply and where the returning emigrant is in some cases the carer of last resort for an ill or infirm relative, I urge the Department to take a less dogmatic and more sympathetic view of the plight of carers who are emigrants returning to care for an aged, ill or infirm relative.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Nash for raising this issue which, as he noted, affects a relatively small number of people but is very important. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection who is in the Seanad. The Department of Social Protection is committed to delivering the best possible service to its customers and continuously strives to achieve the highest standard of customer service possible. Carer's allowance is a means-tested income support payment to people providing full-time care to a person who needs that care because of age, physical or learning disability or illness, including mental illness.

At the end of October 2012, 51,550 customers were in receipt of carer's allowance, approximately 23,000 of whom are on half-rate carer's allowance along with another primary social welfare payment.

In 2011, the amount spent on carer's allowance was €507 million. Expenditure on carer's allowance over the past ten years to the end of 2011 has increased by almost 320% and the number of claimants in receipt of carer's allowance increased by almost 250% over the same period. The habitual residence condition applies to all social assistance payments including carer's allowance. The determination of a person's habitual residence is made in accordance with five factors which are set out in legislation. These are the length and continuity of residence in the State or in any other particular country; the length and purpose of any absence from the State; the nature and pattern of the person's employment; the person's main centre of interest; and the future intentions of the person concerned as they appear from all the circumstances.

These five factors have been derived from European Court of Justice case law. EU rules prevent discrimination on nationality grounds with regard to social security, so it is not possible to exempt a particular category of Irish citizens such as returning emigrants from the habitual residence condition either in general or for carer's allowance without extending the same treatment to all EU nationals. However, the guidelines regarding determination of habitual residence address the issue of returning emigrants very specifically. The guidelines state, "A person who had previously been habitually resident in the State and who moved to live and work in another country and then resumes his-her long-term residence in the State may be regarded as being habitually resident immediately on his-her return to the State". I hope this is of help to Deputy Nash.

In determining the main centre of interest in the case of returning emigrants, deciding officers take account of the purpose of return; the applicant's stated current and future intentions; verified arrangements which have been made with regard to returning on a long-term basis such as the transfer of financial accounts and any other assets; the termination of residence-based entitlements in the other country or assistance from Safe Home or a similar programme to enable Irish emigrants to return permanently; the length and continuity of the previous residence in the State; the record of employment or self employment in another State; and whether he or she has maintained links with the previous residence and can be regarded as resuming his or her previous residence rather than starting a new period of residence.

This is generally sufficient to enable the deciding officer to determine whether an applicant's present circumstances in Ireland indicate a temporary visit or habitual residence. Relatively few returning Irish emigrants are refused social welfare payments on grounds of habitual residence. In 2011, 13,888 applications for carer's allowance were processed. Of these, 223, or approximately 1.6%, were refused on the basis of habitual residency, of which 42 were Irish nationals.

It is acknowledged that the time taken to process carer's allowance claims generally at present is unacceptable. The Department of Social Protection has implemented measures to improve the processing time for carer's allowance applications including the allocation of additional temporary resources. Following the completion of a major modernisation project, an in-depth business process improvement project was completed for the carer's allowance scheme. This project focused on optimising output and customer service and the elimination of the current backlogs. The processing of claims has been divided into two streams. One concentrates on dealing with new claim intake and processes these without delay and the other focuses on the backlog, which is ring-fenced with a clear and targeted plan for its elimination. Since the implementation of the new process the Minister is happy to report that substantial inroads have been made to the current backlog and new applications are being processed on receipt.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for her detailed response. Part of the problem is a lack of clarity among the public with regard to how claims may be handled in certain offices of the Department of Social Protection. I have detected a pattern in recent times whereby once the issue of habitual residency is put forward an official may - this is not always the case - suggest there is little point in making an application because it would not be considered. Will the Minister of State clarify this? What I discern from what she stated is that perhaps there is an amount of flexibility or misunderstanding with regard to how the process works.

The Minister of State mentioned that a person who had previously been habitually resident in the State and had moved to live and work in another country and then resumed his or her long-term residency in the State may be regarded as being habitually resident immediately on his or her return to the State. This is probably an acknowledgement that in the case of an application for carer's allowance by an Irish national, an amount of discretion may be applied by the Department of Social Protection in its consideration. It is important, and it is a stated objective of the Government, that we support carers at every level of society. The Minister of State outlined the approximately €500 million expended by the State on carer's allowance and half-rate carer's allowance. This is a very important support.

As the Minister of State outlined, a small number of people are affected. In 2011, 13,888 applications for carers allowance were processed and 1.6% of these were refused on the basis of habitual residency and only 42 were Irish nationals. A good job of work could be done to clarify the situation for returning emigrants who wish to apply for carer's allowance to take care of a mother, father, aunt or uncle. There appears to be an amount of confusion. This discussion has clarified it and I encourage returning emigrants who are here to support family members to go down the route of applying for a carer's allowance, provide all of the necessary evidence and have a discussion with Department of Social Protection staff to ensure the application is processed and progressed properly.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I agree with Deputy Nash that there appears to be quite a bit of flexibility with regard to the various elements the officers take into account and in my original contribution I referred to the fact a person can be regarded as being habitually resident immediately on his or her return. I will certainly convey to the Minister, Deputy Burton, the issues Deputy Nash has raised. If there is a need for clarification for those implementing these guidelines I am sure the Department would be happy to provide this clarification to ensure people who are entitled to it receive carer's allowance.