Desmond J. O'Malley
Question:39 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Social Welfare the entitlements, if any, of non-nationals who are resident in this State for a period of more than 13 weeks to social welfare payments. [13061/96]
Written Answers. - Entitlement of Non-National to Social Welfare Payments.
Claims by non-nationals for social welfare payments are determined in accordance with the same statutory conditions as claims by Irish nationals and, accordingly, the nationality of social welfare claimants is not an issue.
The EU social security regulations are a complex set of regulations covering migrant workers who are EU nationals and members of their families. The regulations provide for equality of treatment between workers who are nationals and other EU nationals in relation to Irish social insurance and social assistance payments covered by the regulations. The regulations provide, among other things, for the aggregation, where necessary, of a worker's insurance record in all member states for the purpose of acquiring or retaining the right to benefit. Thus, workers who do not satisfy the contribution conditions in our national legislation can rely on aggregation to qualify for payment of Irish benefits, such as disability benefit and unemployment benefit and in certain circumstances, invalidity pensions.
If such persons have been insured in Ireland for at least one year, they can qualify forpro-rata pensions (i.e. invalidity pension, survivor's pension and old age contributory pension) paid by Ireland if they do not qualify for such payments under our national legislation only. With regard to supplementary welfare allowance, which is not covered by the EU regulations, all persons in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs may qualify for payment.
Ireland has also concluded bilateral social security agreements with a number of countries which are designed to protect social security (pension) rights and prevent the possible double liability for payment of social security contributions. The agreements do not cover short-term social security payments such as unemployment benefit, disability benefit, and so on.