Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people who have been refused payments due to the habitual residence condition since its introduction on 1 May 2004; the details for each social welfare payment type; if a review will take place of all of these cases following the recent EU directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2615/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 7,015 claims were refused by my Department because of the habitual residence condition up to 23 January 2006. A breakdown by scheme type is set out in the tabular statement below.

There has been no EU directive on the habitual residence condition and no review of refused cases is either planned or necessary. However, under Article 7(1) of EEC Regulation 1612/68, a worker who is a national of a member state may not, in the territory of the another member state, be treated differently from national workers by reason of his or her nationality in respect of any conditions of employment and work, in particular as regards remuneration, dismissal and, should he or she become unemployed, reinstatement or re-employment. Under Article 7(2) he or she shall enjoy the same social and tax advantages as national workers there.

The European Court of Justice has held that social benefits guaranteeing the minimum means of subsistence, such as supplementary welfare allowance, is a social advantage within the meaning of Article 7(2) of EEC Regulation 1612/68. Accordingly, on the basis of the principle of equal treatment as outlined above, workers from other EEA countries must be treated in the same way as national workers in determining entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance. This requirement does not apply in the case of other social welfare benefits, such as unemployment assistance or old age pension, as the provisions of EU Regulation 1408/71, which deal with the co-ordination of social security entitlements for migrant workers moving within the EEA, contain specific rules applying to such payments. EU Regulation 1408/71 takes precedence over EEC Regulation 1612/68 in this respect.

In November 2005 a circular issued to community welfare officers, who administer supplementary welfare allowance on behalf of the Department, clarifying the definition of an EEA worker and a former EEA worker. The purpose of the circular was to ensure that there was no uncertainty regarding the treatment of claims for supplementary welfare allowance from EEA workers. Claims from EEA nationals who are job seekers, claims from other EEA nationals who are not workers and claims from non-EEA nationals are not affected by EEC Regulation 1612/68. All such claims are subject to the habitual residence condition and continue to be processed as heretofore.

The following table gives a breakdown of the number of cases disallowed by scheme type.