Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the decision of the European Court of Justice yesterday in the case of Dano v.Job Centre Leipzig. The court ruled that a non-economically active European citizen had no right to any non-contributory benefit in whichever European state he or she decided to reside. To put the ruling in more understandable terms, the court decided that a citizen of another member state, for example, France, would not be entitled to claim family allowance in Ireland if he or she had not been economically active here for an appreciable period. It also decided that it was a matter for each member state to decide what non-contributory cash benefit it would grant to citizens of the European Union who were non-nationals. The decision will clearly have implications for Ireland. I ask the Leader to request that the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection come to the House to discuss what will be the consequences of the ruling for taxpayers.