Returning emigrants denied social welfare pay

By Fiachra O Cionnaith

Monday, January 25, 2010

THOUSANDS of Irish citizens forced to emigrate to find work will be barred from receiving any social welfare payments for two years, if they return to this country.

The Irish Examiner has learned that the diaspora created by the economic crisis will be unable to access 10 vital payments, including the jobseekers allowance, child benefit and disability allowances under welfare tourist rules.

Under the Habitual Residence Condition (HRC) requirements, implemented by then social affairs minister Mary Coughlan on May 1, 2004, anyone who has not lived in Ireland for two years is unable to access social welfare payments on their return.

The legislation was initially introduced to protect the exchequer from unfounded concerns of a surge in people arriving from 10 eastern European EU accession countries to access Ireland’s social welfare system.

Before the legislation was put into law Ms Coughlan told the Dáil that "the vast majority of Irish expatriates will be able to prove habitual residence without difficulty because of, for example, their strong family ties with this country".

However, official records obtained by this paper show that in the five years between the introduction of the legal clause and December 2009, a total of 2,709 returning Irish citizens either withdrew from the HRC process or were refused the right to any state-provided income.

As a result, support group the Cross Care Migrant Project has warned that many are left facing poverty or being forced to emigrate again in an attempt to find work.

A Department of Social and Family Affairs spokes-person rejected suggestions the legal clause acted as a barrier for anyone seeking to return home. While a significant number of Irish emigrants are barred from social welfare payments under the scheme, those returning "on a permanent basis should not experience difficulty in demonstrating that they satisfy the requirements".

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, January 25, 2010