Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 357: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason the habitual residency requirement does not apply to residents of Northern Ireland who seek to claim welfare payments in the Republic of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12936/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The habitual residence condition applies to all claimants for certain social welfare payments, regardless of nationality. Any person who makes a claim for jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, one parent family payment, disability allowance, State pension non-contributory, carer's allowance, widow's non-contributory, guardian's non-contributory payment, blind pension or supplementary welfare allowance must be habitually resident in the State.

People who reside in Northern Ireland are not immune from being subject to the habitual residence condition. However, a person who has been residing in Northern Ireland and moves residence to this State may find it easier to satisfy this residence condition than people coming from other countries, because of the freedom of movement within the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the United Kingdom, and the relative ease of transferring one's centre of interest across the Border. This is reflected in Section 246 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 which provides that "it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that a person is not habitually resident in the State at the date of making the application concerned unless the person has been present in the State or any other part of the Common Travel Area for a continuous period of 2 years ending on that date".

The EU Regulations, which provide for the protection of the social security rights of migrant workers exercising their right to freedom of movement between EU countries, include provisions which can override national legislation. The Regulations provide that family benefits (including child benefit) are payable by the State in which the claimant is employed, or by the State which is paying benefit, including jobseeker's benefit, following a period of employment in that State, even where the children are resident in another State. A person who is currently employed in the Republic of Ireland by an Irish employer is entitled to child benefit even if that person and/or his/her children are residing in Northern Ireland. A person who was last employed in the Republic and, for example, is entitled to Irish jobseeker's benefit (which can be exported for up to 3 months) will be similarly entitled to child benefit for that 3 months period. These arrangements do not apply to other payments like jobseeker's allowance, disability allowance or supplementary welfare allowance which remain subject to the habitual residence condition.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 358: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if an Irish citizen who has been living in the United States for the past three years and has not worked here since 2006 would be entitled to claim jobseeker's allowance or benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12937/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A person who has been living in the United States for the past three years will not have sufficient PRSI contributions to qualify for jobseeker's benefit. To get jobseeker's benefit during 2009 the person must have:

(a) 104 PRSI contributions paid since they first started work and

(b) 39 PRSI contributions, at classes A, H or P, paid or credited in the 2007 tax year. At least 13 of these must be paid contributions. If person does not have 13 contributions paid in 2007, they can satisfy this condition if they have 13 contributions paid in either 2005, 2006 or 2008. Contributions in multiple years cannot be aggregated. If a person does not satisfy condition (b) they may qualify if they have 26 PRSI contributions paid in each of the years 2006 and 2007.

The person may qualify for a jobseeker's allowance payment, provided he/she satisfies a number of conditions including a means test and is habitually resident in Ireland. In assessing means, account is taken of all income that the person may reasonably expect to receive during the succeeding year. Account is also taken of any property that the person may own, apart from their family home, together with any savings and investments and any other cash income such as a pension from a former employer or from another country. In the case of a couple, the means of the spouse or partner are taken into account as well as the claimant's own means.

The factors taken into account in determining whether a person is habitually resident in this country are:

Length and continuity of residence in Ireland or in any other particular country

Length and purpose of any absence from Ireland

Nature and pattern of employment

Applicant's main centre of interest

Future intentions of applicant as they appear from all the circumstances.

An Irish citizen returning to Ireland would have to satisfy the habitual residence condition. A person claiming jobseeker's allowance should apply to the Social Welfare Local Office so that a decision can be made on their entitlement.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 359: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the social welfare supports available to Irish citizens returning home from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12938/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has bilateral agreements on social security with the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. The EU Regulations on social security for migrant workers apply, with certain exceptions, to workers and their families migrating between the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In the case of the first four of these bilateral agreements, provision is made for the aggregation of insurance periods (or comparable periods of residence in the case of Australia and New Zealand) if required to establish entitlement to contributory State pension, widow's or widower's pension, guardian's payment, invalidity pension or bereavement grant. The guardian's payment and bereavement grant are paid at the normal rates. The other pensions are paid on a pro-rata basis — that is, the Irish pension is calculated according to the proportion that the Irish contribution period bears to the total aggregate of periods of insurance and their equivalents. Pro rata pensions, calculated on a similar basis, may also be payable by the other country. These four agreements do not apply to short-term benefits including jobseeker's, maternity or illness benefits.

The EU Regulations on social security apply to persons migrating between the United Kingdom and Ireland, except in the case of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, which are not part of the EU. An agreement with the United Kingdom covers migration between Ireland and these territories and includes all benefits and pensions.

The EU Regulations and the UK agreement both provide for pro-rata pensions (as described above) in the case of State pension and widow's / widower's pension. Periods of insurance are aggregated to establish entitlement to short-term benefits and (in the case of the UK) invalidity pension which under the EU Regulations are normally paid by one country, the country of employment or last employment. (A pro-rata arrangement applies to invalidity pension where some EU countries are involved). If a person is not entitled to a contributory payment or pension under the relevant agreement on returning to Ireland, an assistance payment such as State non-contributory pension, jobseeker's allowance, disability allowance, or supplementary welfare allowance may be payable subject to the normal means test and other conditions, including the habitual residence condition.

Irish nationals returning to live here on a permanent basis normally experience little difficulty in demonstrating that they satisfy the requirements of the habitual residence condition. However a person who is on a short-term visit may not be entitled to avail of these non-contributory benefits. Information regarding these bilateral agreements and the conditions applying to all social welfare schemes are published on the Department's website:

www.welfare.ie and on the Citizens Information Board's website — see

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare