Benefit claims for children living abroad soar 400%

THE number of non-nationals applying for child benefit whose children aren’t resident in Ireland has quadrupled in a year.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs is receiving around 170 such applications per week, compared to 40 per week a year ago. Most of the new claims are being made by immigrants from the European Union accession states, mainly from Poland.

Awareness about entitlement to child welfare has grown since Fine Gael revealed that immigrants were entitled to the €1,000 payment for children under the age of six - introduced in the budget to address the rising cost of childcare.