EU migrant workers have an entitlement to Child Benefit and other "Family benefits" including Early Childcare Supplement (ECS) under EU Regulation 1408/71. Where a national of an EU State with a family is working in Ireland, the worker is entitled to payment of family benefits, even if the children are resident abroad.
Applications for family benefits from EU migrant workers who come to live in Ireland with their families are dealt with under domestic legislation. Currently just over 31,000 EU nationals are in receipt of Child Benefit for 56,000 children who are resident with them in Ireland. The majority of these recipients, some 16,500, are UK nationals, with a further 10,500 recipients from the ten States that joined the EU in 2004.
The process for establishing entitlement to child benefit for non-resident children is complex as it is necessary to contact the authorities in the country of residence of the children to confirm details and establish what if any family benefits are payable there.
This process can take a number of months to complete and, as a result, the number of claims that has been finalised to date is relatively small. There are approximately 12,000 claims at various stages of processing and awaiting finalisation. The number of claims to child benefit in respect of non-resident children of EU nationals, since the start of 2006, has averaged close to 300 per week. The number of children under 6 years qualifying for ECS is estimated at 40% of this number. Applications of child benefit reached a peak of 400 per week in June but have been reducing somewhat in the months since.
At the start of 2006, 650 families were receiving child benefit under EU regulations 1408/71. Currently 599 such families, with 1,444 children, are receiving Child Benefit. Some 86% of non-resident families are in the UK.
The total child benefit expenditure for EU migrants with non resident children in respect of 2006 is estimated at €36m or 1.8% of overall child benefit expenditure of €2.04 billion. The total cost in 2007 is difficult to estimate but on current trends, the potential accrued cost could be of the order of €80 million. The corresponding figures for early childcare supplement are €8m in respect of 2006 and €17m in respect of 2007.