THE GOVERNMENT has said it will continue to seek changes to EU rules governing the payment of child benefit to parents living in Ireland who claim for non-resident children.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said yesterday she had raised the issue informally at a meeting with her EU counterparts in Luxembourg last Friday, but admitted there was some resistance to the Irish proposal.
She said there had been some discussion about how EU rules on benefits were affecting the integrity of national social security systems in the union.
However she said it would be “quite a while” before the issue could be tabled formally at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers. “This is an evolving discussion and I asked for an impact assessment to be carried out to determine how cross-border issues are affecting the integrity of social security systems.”
She said Denmark and Britain had also raised the issue at the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers.
However, the European Commission, which would have to propose any future changes to EU rules, has signalled it does not support the Irish proposal.
“For us the question is about social security co-ordination and what I can say is that we have not been thinking about changing the rules here, and especially not about restrictions,” said Laszlo Andor, Commissioner for Social Affairs in a statement to The Irish Times.
“The free movement of workers is a fundamental right in the EU, benefiting receiving countries who need skilled labour as well as sending countries,” he said.
“EU rules make sure migrant workers receive the same social advantages as national workers in any EU country. This also includes Irish workers living abroad in Germany, the UK or anywhere else in the EU,” said Mr Andor.
The Department of Social Protection is paying child benefit in respect of 7,814 children living in other EU states to 4,923 families based in Ireland. The cost of making child benefit payments to families of non-resident children in 2010 was €15.4 million, the department says.
Parents from EU states who travel to Ireland to work are eligible for the same level of child benefit payments as Irish parents, even when they leave their child behind in their home countries.
The parent’s home state usually pays the standard rate of child benefit in that country, which in Poland is about €17 per month and €21.99 in Slovakia.