Recent survey to clean up Child Benefit Scheme.

[GalwayIndy]

I recently received a letter from the Social Welfare Office. As I am legally resident here, my two children receive it monthly.

There was a survey sent to me asking for my immigration status and category (i.e. Refugee, work visa, etc etc) and interestingly, they required me to list the name of the creche and school my children attend as well as the name of our GP.

Maybe this is in an effort to stop the social welfare payments going to EU nationals whose children aren't even residing in Ireland? I'm not sure. I think it's a good way of finding out if the children do attend school or not, but I can't imagine how on earth the authorities will be able to go and check each school register and each child's attendance.

Maybe it's used in case there are attendance problems? I'm not sure if this form was sent to all mothers or just ones who are not Irish citizens.

[michael1965]

Actually, child benefit is paid out to children who aren't resident in Ireland anyway. What matters is that the parent is living and working here. Applies inside the EU only. Strange but true....

[GalwayIndy]

I think it says something different on the website....look
http://www.welfare.ie/schemes/families/cb.html
"Child Benefit is a benefit paid every month for each qualified child normally living with you and being supported by you."

[michael1965]

That's a disgracefully misleading and incorrect statement (by welfare.ie) presumably designed to discourage claimants. If you follow the "Freedom of Information" link on the same page, you'll see a section on "Habitual Residence" which (in rather unclear language) says that EU regulations override Irish legislation on the residency point.

This whole issue only arose in the last year or so, But I'm disappointed to see that the Dept of Social welfare telling lies on their own website.

[GalwayIndy]

It would be interesting to read the translated documents in the other EU languages to see what they say!

[nawbut]

Michael is right (including where he says that welfare are being disgracefully misleading).
From the citizensinformation website:

"Child Benefit and EU RegulationsEU/EEA citizens and Swiss nationals working in Ireland, satisfy the habitual residence condition for Child Benefit.

If you are an EU/EEA citizen or a Swiss national and work in a country covered by EU Regulations, this country usually pays Child Benefit even if your family is living in another country. However, if your children are living in another EU/EEA country you should still apply for any Family Benefit you are entitled to there. If the Family Benefit you get in the country your children are living is less than the Child Benefit payment here, your Child Benefit payment will make up the difference. For more information on how EU rules affect Child Benefit, contact Child Benefit Section (see 'Where to apply' below).

Countries covered by EU Regulations are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lichenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherland, United Kingdom (excluding the Channel Islands).

Non-EU/EEA citizens must be "habitually resident" in Ireland to quality for Child Benefit. If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen and legally working in this State, you may qualify for Child Benefit if your child is also resident here. Find out more about habitual residence here."

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categ ... %20benefit

It may be that the survey is merely trying to establish if EU nationals have applied for whatever Family Benefit is appropriate to the residence of their dependent child/ren? The difference (if any/less) is then made-up by the Child Benefit scheme here.

[nawbut]

It would be interesting to read the translated documents in the other EU languages to see what they say!

The citizensinformation website publishes some of its materials in translations to Polish, Chinese, Lithuanian and others. welfare.ie may well do the same.

[pocleary]

I recently received a letter from the Social Welfare Office. As I am legally resident here, my two children receive it monthly.

There was a survey sent to me asking for my immigration status and category (i.e. Refugee, work visa, etc etc) and interestingly, they required me to list the name of the creche and school my children attend as well as the name of our GP.

Maybe this is in an effort to stop the social welfare payments going to EU nationals whose children aren't even residing in Ireland? I'm not sure. I think it's a good way of finding out if the children do attend school or not, but I can't imagine how on earth the authorities will be able to go and check each school register and each child's attendance.

Maybe it's used in case there are attendance problems? I'm not sure if this form was sent to all mothers or just ones who are not Irish citizens.

But people fiddling the system are hardly likely to tell the truth on such forms.

[pocleary]

I think it says something different on the website....look
http://www.welfare.ie/schemes/families/cb.html
"Child Benefit is a benefit paid every month for each qualified child normally living with you and being supported by you."

The irish post reported the other week that millions has been paid to people for child benefit while the children are in Poland and the parent works in Ireland,

State to pay out €25m for non-resident child benefit
Sunday, October 07, 2007 - By Emma Kennedy
The state will pay out €25 million in child benefit payments for non-resident children this year, a 36-fold increase on the 2005 figure.

In the same period, the overall expenditure on child benefit increased by just under 16 per cent, from€1.9 billion to an anticipated €2.2 billion this year.

Under EU law, the Irish state’s child benefit payment, which was formerly known as children’s allowance, is paid to 1,280 families in respect of 2,985 children resident outside of Ireland.

In 2005, €700,000 was paid out by the state on child benefits for non-resident children.

Last year, this figure more than trebled to €2.2 million and this year it will rise more than tenfold to €25 million.