To qualify for child benefit a child must be under 16 years — 19 years if in full-time education — and ordinarily resident in the State. The vast majority of children born in Ireland will satisfy these conditions. Child benefit is paid to the person with whom the child is normally resident, which in most cases is the child's mother.
Since 1 May 2004, the new qualifying condition — habitual residency condition, HRC — for child benefit was introduced. From that date the applicant must be habitually resident in Ireland. Section 17 of the Social Welfare Act 2004 specifies that a person shall not be considered as being habitually resident in the State at the date of making the application unless the person has been present in the State or any other part of the common travel area for a continuous period of two years ending on that date.
The question of what is a person's "habitual residence" is decided in accordance with European Court of Justice case law, which sets out the grounds for assessing individual claims. Each case that is subject to a determination on the habitual residence condition is dealt with on its merits and a decision is based on the individual circumstances of the case. Any applicant who disagrees with the deciding officer decision has the right of appeal to the social welfare appeals office.
Straightforward cases are dealt with as part of the normal claim process, while more complex cases are passed to more senior officers for decision. The Department requires applicants to supply a range of information in support of their application, including details of employment, property owned in Ireland, family in Ireland, family or property abroad, before making a decision.
Since 1 May 2004 over 70,000 new applications for child benefit have been received. The vast majority of these cases are straightforward and are approved as part of the normal claims process. In 10,596 cases the decision was passed to a more senior officer, with 1,299 claims or 12% deemed not to have satisfied the habitual residency condition. A total of 514 children born in Ireland were affected in these cases. It is open to applicants to re-apply for the benefit at a later time if their circumstances have changed in the interim, for example, if their residency status, family composition or employment status has changed.
Currently the percentage of applicants for CB who satisfy the habitual residency condition is 94%. The main reasons that applicants would not satisfy the habitual residency condition is that their residency status in the country is not yet decided or they have failed to satisfy the Department of their intention to reside in Ireland on a long-term basis. EU nationals working in Ireland are paid child benefit under EU regulations and as such are not subject to the habitual residence condition.
Non-EU workers in Ireland on work permits and whose families are resident here are considered to satisfy the habitual residence condition if they are in permanent employment, have brought their families to Ireland and can satisfy the Department of their intention to make Ireland their home on a long-term basis.