Child Benefit is payable to children who are ordinarily resident in the state or who reside with a qualified person outside the state, while that person is a member of the defence forces, a civil servant posted abroad, a volunteer development worker or who remain insurable under Irish Social insurance while working abroad.
EU Migrant workers may have an entitlement to Child Benefit and other "Family benefits" under EU Regulation 1408/71. Where a national of an EU state is working in Ireland, she/he is entitled to payment of these benefits, even if his/her children are resident in the worker's home country.
The social security rights of people living and working in the EU are governed by EU Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72. The Regulations co-ordinate social security systems and are designed to ensure that people are not disadvantaged by moving within the EU to take up work. This is achieved primarily by setting out rules as to which State's social security a person will pay insurance when, for example, s/he moves from one Member State to another to take up work or where s/he lives in one State and works in another. In addition, the Regulations also set out rules as to which State will pay benefit in the event of the usual contingencies arising, sickness, unemployment old-age etc.
The general rule is that a person is insured in the State in which s/he works. Equally, the state of employment has, in general, responsibility for paying benefits when, for example, a person becomes unemployed or ill. The Regulations also provide that, when entitlement to benefit is being examined, account must be taken of insurance paid in any other Member State where the person worked.
For the purposes of the EU Regulation, Irish Child Benefit and Early Childcare Supplement are classified as Family Benefits and there are specific rules governing the payment of these benefits.
Because entitlement to family benefits can often arise in more than one Member State (based on residence and/or employment) the Regulations set out a number of rules in order to determine which country pays family benefits. The main ones are:
Residence requirements in national legislation (such as the habitual residence condition in Ireland) are overridden.
The level of payment of family benefits in the State of employment has priority over the level of payment in the State of residence. If there is employment in two States, the level of payment in the State of residence of the children has priority.
If the level of payment of family benefits in the State of residence is higher than that in the State of employment, the State of residence is required to pay a supplement equal to the difference between the two amounts.