asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether emigrants with children forfeit their rights to Irish children's allowances on leaving this country; whether they are paid British children's allowances on arrival in that country; if there is a lapse between the termination of payment of Irish children's allowances and the commencement of payment of British children's allowances; and if he will make arrangements, if necessary in co-operation with the British Government, to ensure that there will be no lapse in payment of allowances in such circumstances.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Payment of Children's Allowances.
28.
A person who goes to reside in Great Britain with his family ceases to be entitled to Irish children's allowances.
There are residence conditions for the receipt of British family allowances which vary as between British subjects born in the United Kingdom, British subjects born abroad and aliens. As a concession, persons born in this country are treated in the same way as British subjects born in the United Kingdom for the purpose of qualifying for family allowances, and this means that in common with such persons they must have not less than 26 weeks residence in Great Britain during the twelve months preceding the date of claim. The condition may be satisfied by either parent, but no such condition applies to the children provided the claim is being made by a parent. There is no lapse in payment of allowances where the father has preceded his family by six months or more and I understand that this is generally the case. In the circumstances, there would appear to be no strong case for taking action on the lines suggested by the Deputy.
The Minister will appreciate that serious hardship can be caused to families where the husband, wife and children all go together, particularly where there may be a period of unemployment after arriving in Great Britain. Even though the number of cases may be small, would the Minister not have negotiations with the British authorities to see if a scheme could be devised to cover them? It certainly would not break the Exchequer in either country but it would be of great assistance to people who most need assistance.
It appears to me that if their own rule is that you must have 26 weeks residence before you qualify no strong case could be made for our people getting any better concession than the British population have got for themselves.
Could we not give children's allowances for a period after our own families emigrate until such time as they become eligible in Britain?
I assume that could be done if the law were amended for that purpose but not, so far as I know, in existing circumstances.
The Minister might think about it.