Vol. 395 No. 9
180 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare when the Council of Europe Convention on Social Security was opened for signature; when Ireland signed it; its implications for Ireland; the reason legislation to ratify it has not yet been introduced; when it will be introduced; and the countries which have already ratified it.
The European Convention on Social Security was opened for signature by the member states of the Council of Europe on 14 December 1972, and was signed by Ireland on 23 February 1979. To date eight of the member states of the Council of Europe viz. Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Turkey have ratified the Convention.
The Convention is designed to ensure in each ratifying country equality of treatment in social security for nationals of other ratifying countries and for refugees and stateless persons and also to ensure that entitlement to social security benefits is maintained despite changes of residence within such countries.
Of the eight countries which have ratified the Convention to date, six are members of the European Community and the social security entitlements of persons moving between Ireland and those countries are already protected by the EC Regulations. The other two countries which have ratified the convention are Austria and Turkey. Ireland now has a bilateral agreement with Austria which came into effect in December 1989 following negotiations which I recently completed with my counterpart in Austria. This protects the social security entitlements of migrant workers who move between Ireland and Austria. The provisions in these Regulations and agreements are broadly similar to those provided for in the Convention and ratification of the Convention by Ireland would not confer any additional advantages on Irish workers in these cases.
