Arthur Spring
Question:528. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Social Protection the social welfare benefits the Croatians will be automatically entitled to if they decide to move here. [37033/13]
View answerWednesday, 18 September 2013
Questions (528)
Written answers
With accession to the EU, Croatia comes within the terms of the EU Regulations on the Coordination of Social Security Systems (883/2004 and 987/2009). These Regulations cover a wide range of benefits including those provided for sickness, maternity, invalidity, old age, survivor’s, occupational injuries, death grants, unemployment, pre-retirement and family. Under the Regulations, citizens of other EU States enjoy the same benefits and are subject to the same obligations under the legislation of any Member State as the citizens thereof.
The Regulations dictate where a person should pay social insurance and what State is competent for payment of benefits. In the case of contributory benefits, with few exceptions, they override residence conditions in national legislation and they also provide for the aggregation of contributions where a person has worked in more than one Member State.
Non-contributory benefits also come within the terms of the Regulations. However, these are, with few exceptions, payable in accordance with national legislation and only in the country of residence. As with other EU citizens, Croatian nationals applying for non-contributory benefits will need to satisfy the Habitual Residence Condition.