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Child Support.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2007

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Questions (259)

Olwyn Enright

Question:

342 Deputy Olwyn Enright asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there is a backlog in payment of the early child care supplement; the length of this backlog; if it relates to a particular area; the way he will address same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22721/07]

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Written answers

The Early Childcare Supplement (ECS), which is payable in respect of children under the age of 6 years is automatically awarded when Child Benefit is awarded.

The majority of Child Benefit and ECS awards are processed either automatically or in a partially automated fashion for children born in Ireland once their birth details are registered with the General Registrar's Office. Parents are contacted in most cases by the Child Benefit office within two days of the registration of their child's birth. The Early Childcare Supplement is paid automatically when Child Benefit is awarded.

Currently Child Benefit section is processing a number of claims for children born outside Ireland but living here with their parents and for children living in other EU countries who have a parent or parents working in Ireland.

There is a total of 6,000 claims for non-national children resident in Ireland at various stages of processing prior to finalisation. These cases tend to be slower to process as the customer must satisfy the Habitual Residency condition test and this may entail contacting employers, Department of Justice and other relevant bodies to confirm their status in the state. In approx 40% of these cases — some 2400 claims — there maybe an entitlement to ECS in respect of children under 6 years of age.

A total of some 20,000 claims from EU nationals for non-resident children is also being processed at present. EU nationals who come to work in Ireland but whose families remain in their home country may have an entitlement to Family Benefits in Ireland under EU Regulation 1408/71. The number of these claims where an entitlement to ECS may exist is estimated at 8,000 (48%).

Before payment of Child Benefit is made for non-resident children it is necessary to contact the authorities in the country of residency of the children to confirm details and establish what if any family benefits are payable there. This process can take a number of months to complete and, as a result, the number of claims that has been finalised to date is relatively small.

The number of claims received from EU nationals for non-resident children is down approximately 50% on the same period in 2006. This reduction in claim numbers plus the recent assignment of additional staff will ensure that the claims are processed more speedily over the coming months.

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