Vol. 413 No. 3
15 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Social Welfare if it is intended to review, amend or repeal the social security conventions with the United Kingdom, given that many of the provisions (1) are either defunct or have been overtaken by EC regulations and (2) may, in some cases, be in breach of EC regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Officials from my Department have met with officials from the United Kingdom Department of Social Security concerning the revision and modification of bilateral agreements on social security previously entered into by both Governments. The proposed revised agreement will apply to any person who is or has been subject to the legislation of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. As regards Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland it will only apply to persons not covered by EC legislation on social security. Negotiations concerning the agreement are ongoing and will be completed as soon as possible.
Would the Minister agree that what is really happening is that EC law has to a large degree gone ahead of local conventions? Would he further agree, given the huge number of people traditionally travelling between Ireland and England, that a solution to the problem should be arrived at as quickly as possible? Would he finally agree that the main area of difficulty in relation to EC regulations was the general lack of information on people's entitlements and would he examine this very serious problem affecting workers, particularly in the light of the free flow of labour from 1992?
I dealt with that matter earlier on and I certainly do not wish to repeat myself now. Bilateral social security negotiations between Ireland and the United Kingdom go back to 1960, 1966, 1968 and 1971 and there is discussion going on at present. In the light of commitments made earlier, I will examine the issue to determine a way in which we can make improvements that will be beneficial to claimants here.
