Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 11: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, in regard to the planned introduction of the early child care supplement, his Department has any estimate or assessment of the likely number of claims that could be made in respect of children not resident here; the estimated cost in respect of such payments; the procedures which will be put in place to ensure verification of claims made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4697/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The early child care supplement, ECS, scheme was introduced in budget 2006. The scheme is under the remit of the Office of the Minister for Children, which will be responsible for policy and legislation in relation to the scheme. The administration of the scheme is being undertaken by my Department.

The scheme is a universal one and all parents-guardians of children up to six years of age are eligible. It is expected that a total of 260,000 families will qualify for the supplement in 2006, in respect of a total of some 350,000 children. The budget for the ECS in 2006 is €265 million, and in a full year it is estimated at €350 million.

Eligibility for the ECS is identical to that for the child benefit scheme. As with the child benefit scheme, the early child care supplement falls within the definition of a "family benefit" under EU Regulation 1408/71. One practical effect of this is that where a national of an EU state is working in Ireland the worker is entitled, if she or he has a family, to payment of this benefit. If the children of the worker are resident in the worker's home country, entitlement to payment of the supplement still exists.

This situation is the same as for the child benefit scheme. My Department is currently making child benefit payments to 650 families, in respect of approximately 1,300 children, where the children are resident in the worker's home country. About 450 of these children are aged under six years and will be eligible for payment of the ECS. The vast majority of these children at this point are resident in the United Kingdom.

In addition to this stock of cases, the weekly intake of claims in respect of non-resident families is currently 80. It is estimated that these families will have a total of 50 children under the age of six. At this rate of intake, ECS payments of €2.7 million will have accrued by the end of 2006. This is 1% of the total projected cost of the supplement this year. It is likely however, that only €1 million of this will be paid by the end of 2006 — 0.3% of projected expenditure. This is due to the protracted nature of the claim decision process which involves communication with the authorities in the country in which the family resides.

My Department operates a strict verification process for child benefit claims and this will also apply to the ECS. The work status in Ireland is checked and birth certificates for the children obtained. It is necessary to correspond with the relevant authorities in the country where the family reside to see what entitlements may be in place there and what effect the supplement will have on payments in both countries. In the course of this correspondence, particulars of the children in the family are re-checked and verified.

My officials are currently reviewing these verification and other control measures currently operated for the child benefit scheme with a view to adapting and expanding them as appropriate for the early child care supplement scheme. This work is ongoing and the final shape and scope of the verification measures is not yet completed.

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is not possible at this point to forecast the position with total accuracy. This will depend on future immigration flows and the number of non-national immigrants who decide to return home. Based on current figures the expenditure in respect of non-resident children is unlikely to be significant in the context of the overall spending on the scheme.