advice for a friend leaving partner to return home to Ireland

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ninak

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I am trying to help out a friend who's relationship has broken down in another country, so she is moving home with her young child. She is Irish, only having moved away a couple of years ago. Up till then she was paying PRSI in Ireland for about 15 to 20 years. I am trying to find out what she needs to do to get set up with single parents allowance and to qualify for rent allowance. She is basically running home to stay with her parents/ siblings here until she gets herself back on her feet. She will be coming home with nothing but a suitcase, ie. no cash. She will have a place to stay with them, but only for a short while.

What can she do in the next few weeks before she leaves that would speed up the process here? Should she be applying for certain paper work from this other country now so as to save time in a month when she leaves? Is there anything I can do here in Ireland to speed things up for her?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It is a delicate situation and the normal avenues for making these kind of queries are not open to her as she does not want to draw attention to any plans she has to leave.
 
So she's taking the child and doing a runner.

What would happen if your friend was the child's father planning the same trick? I'm not being smart, it's a genuine question, if anyone knows the answer?
 
If she's worked in an EU country she may be entitled to transfer her dole over for a few months. I know when I left Ireland after I'd lost a job where I'd paid PRSI contributions that it was possible for about 3 months. But I needed a form for this an E105 I think but it's probably called something else now.

Even though she's Irish they have toughened up the rules in relation to rent allowance. Google social welfare and 'habitual residency' requirements to see what she needs to do. Probably she'll have to live with her parents for a while. She should make sure she has the birth certificate and passport of her child in order. She may need official translations for these. She cannot apply for social welfare before she arrives so she should go to one of their offices the day after arrival to get herself into the system. Have a look at the other threads on here in the social welfare section. Citizen's advice bureau is another place to get information.
 
mandelbrot said:
So she's taking the child and doing a runner.

What would happen if your friend was the child's father planning the same trick? I'm not being smart, it's a genuine question, if anyone knows the answer?
Click to expand...

Taking the child out of the country without the permission of the father is a very serious matter and could result in a criminal charge of kidnapping.
 
I'd say rent allowance and other entitlements may be the least of her worries if indeed she removes her child without the father's permission.
 
Jobseeker's Benefit can only be transferred to Ireland from another EU country if it is already in payment in the country the person is moving from. If there is currently no active claim, payments cannot be transferred. Eligibility for claims based on Irish PRSI records will depend on how long ago PRSI was paid here (generally it must have been within 2-3 years).

Means-tested social welfare claims in Ireland are subject to meeting the Habitual Residence Condition. The person will have to show that they have a centre of interest here. Search on www.welfare.ie for information on habitual residence.

Rent Supplement has certain qualifying criteria - as well as Habitual Residence and a means test, the person must have been renting privately for 6 of the past 12 months (and have been able to afford the rent), or have been assessed by the local authority as having a housing need and be on the housing list. Depending on the area of the country, local authority housing need assessments can take several months.

As means-tested social welfare payments are generally only payable to persons living in Ireland, there is nothing the person can do in advance of her arrival here.
 
Jim2007 said:
Taking the child out of the country without the permission of the father is a very serious matter and could result in a criminal charge of kidnapping.
Click to expand...

Presumably the mother has joint custody, she may in fact have full custody. Parents are allowed to travel with their children, you don't need the consent of the other parent unless there is a custody battle. I undersood the law in relation to this applied more in situations where one had custody and the other sought to get around this by 'kidnapping' the child. Until we know the exact circumstances of the parents in this case we shouldn't jump to any conclusions.
 
Thanks for all the info on welfare. I will advise her about the habitual residence issue and the 6 months renting before qualifying for rent allowance.
As to taking the child without consent of father, that is not quite what is happening here. That is something I would never condone myself and am of the opinion that fathers rights are completely inadequate under present legislation, something which should be addressed.
In this case she has sole custody and he has stated that he wants little or nothing to do with the child if she leaves. She has no intention of stopping him having access and a role in the child's life if he wants one, but it is doubtful that he will. She just needs to return home to her family and support network of friends, something lacking where she is presently.
 
Dont assume that the Irish / European law on this is the same everywhere else.

If this case happens to be in one of the Middle East countries, the mother will often have very little rights and the father's permission will be needed to take the child from the country.

The OP should advise her friend to seek Irish Consular assistance in whatever country she is in especially if outside the EU.
 
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