Vol. 456 No. 3
139 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Social Welfare the number of au pairs from EU and non-EU countries who came originally to Ireland as au pairs for Irish families in receipt of assistance and rent allowance on a county basis in each of the years 1993 and 1994 and to date in 1995. [13977/95]
Details of the number of EU and non-EU nationals who are originally entered the country as au pairs and are now in receipt of assistance and rent allowance is not available.
The legislation governing entitlement to unemployment assistance requires that applicants be capable of, available for and genuinely seeking employment.
To be considered available for employment in Ireland, deciding officers would normally take the view that non-Irish applicants for unemployment assistance must show that they have a legal right to reside in Ireland and that there is no prohibition as part of the residency conditions from taking up employment in Ireland.
Nationals of EU member states are entitled to come and seek employment in Ireland under the provisions governing the freedom of movement of workers within the EU. Accordingly, where a national of an EU member state having being employed, or self-employed, in Ireland becomes unemployed, he/she is entitled to claim unemployment assistance.
With regard to the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme, section 171 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, provides for the payment of SWA, including rent supplements, to "every person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet his needs and the needs of any adult or child dependant."
The administration and day-to-day management of the SWA scheme has been devolved to eight regional health boards and my Department has no function in deciding entitlement in individual cases. A statistical system has been in use for some years in the health boards which enables financial records to be maintained. There is, however, no separate code which records a person's nationality or previous occupation.
