Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 October 2004
157 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applicants since 1 May 2004 for unemployment assistance from citizens of the ten new EU states which joined the EU on 1 May 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23312/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraSome 618 applications for unemployment assistance were received from citizens of the ten new member states of the EU since 1 May 2004. The majority of these claims were made by 178 citizens of Poland, 173 citizens of Lithuania, 100 citizens of the Czech Republic and 100 citizens of Latvia.
All applicants for unemployment assistance since 1 May 2004 must satisfy the habitual residence condition. Some 445 unemployment assistance claims made by citizens of the new member states have been examined to date of which 232 or 52% were disallowed on the grounds that they did not satisfy the condition.
Applicants who meet the habitual residence condition must also undergo a means test and must satisfy a deciding officer that they are available for, capable of and genuinely seeking work.
The total number of people from the ten new member states who are currently on the live register is 700. This is an increase of 265 since 1 May 2004 but represents less than half of 1% of the live register.
A total of 32,405 personal public service numbers or PPSNs have been allocated to citizens of the new member states since 1 May 2004. Some of these may have been in Ireland since before 1 May 2004. Some 15,486 citizens of Poland, 6,865 of Lithuania and 3,340 of Latvia account for 25,691 or 72% of these PPSN allocations.
Age analysis of 30,000 PPSNs allocated between 1 May 2004 and 31 August 2004 reveals that the majority — some 20,389 or 68% — were in the 18 to 30 age range while 7,247 or 24% were taken up by persons aged 30 to 45. This would suggest that the majority of citizens coming here from the new member states do so for the purposes of seeking employment. The number who succeed in finding employment is not known but data held by the Revenue Commissioners suggest it is significantly less than 30,000. Given the very small numbers who went on the live register, it would appear that those who did not find employment subsequently left the state.
