asked the Minister for Health what services are available to Irish nationals who are temporarily resident in countries which have signed the 1953 European Convention for Social and Medical Assistance in Paris; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social and Medical Assistance.
4.
The 1953 European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance provides that each contracting party will afford certain assistance to nationals of the other contracting party who are lawfully present in its territory and who are without sufficient resources.
The assistance referred to must be given on a basis of equality with its own nationals and is defined in the convention as "all assistance under the laws and regulations in force in any part of its territory under which persons without sufficient resources are granted means of subsistence and the care necessitated by their condition other than non-contributory pensions and benefits paid in respect of war injuries or injuries due to foreign occupation".
The relevant laws and regulations in force in each country when the convention was signed are set out in an annex to the convention and this annex is amended as new laws come into force and are notified to the Council of Europe. Ireland is a contracting party and Irish citizens are entitled, in the circumstances mentioned, to the benefits set out in the convention and annex.
It is difficult to reply to the Deputy in more specific terms but I should be happy, if the Deputy has a particular case in mind, to make any necessary inquiries.
5.
asked the Minister for Health what services are available to Irish nationals who are temporarily resident in the United States of America or Canada; if it is proposed to enter into reciprocal arrangements with these countries on lines similar to those embodied in the European Convention for Social and Medical Assistance; and, if not, why.
There are no reciprocal arrangements between USA or Canada and ourselves for the kind of services which are covered by the European convention mentioned by the Deputy. There is no evidence of a demand for such arrangements and no proposals for reciprocity of these services have been formulated.