# Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 months



## chlipps (14 Nov 2009)

Just wondering if any other people are receiving forms from social welfare dept every 3 months for child benefit to prove residency?

My wife is not Irish but is European.  Every three months she receives a form to complete which her employers have to sign and stamp.

We find it annoying as know friends and also family do not have to fill this form. 

I'm Irish and my Son is irish. We have no plans to leave ireland. 

This seems to be waste of money by dept of social welfare to be sending out this form every three months.

Is there anyway of stopping this form?.

Has anyone who received the form contacted the dept to stop sending it out?

Any feedback appreciated


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## Gervan (14 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I have to do this too. I'm from the UK originally, have been here 10 years. What worried me last time I had sent it off, was entries on this forum from some people who had their CB stopped, the SW office saying their form had not been returned. In future I will have to pay extra for registered post for peace of mind, an added nuisance.


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## Papercut (14 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Claims are normally registered to the mother and, as the person receiving the benefit, it is her nationality that dictates the status of the claim.

  The proof of Residency forms are anti-fraud measures & are standard:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BirthChildrenAndFamilies/ChildRelatedPayments/Pages/cb.aspx: 

_''EU/EEA citizens and Swiss national covered by EU Regulations are currently required to certify every 3 months that they continue to work in this State.   _
_Non-EU/EEA citizens are currently required to certify twice a year that they and their children continue to live in this State._ ''



  From http://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2009-10-21.1046.0 :

_''In 2008 some 80,000 certificates issued to non-Irish customers who qualify on the basis of employment or residency. In the course of this exercise, it transpired that some 24,000 had changed residence of which 8,000 had left the country and did not therefore have entitlement to benefit. Certificates are now issued on a quarterly basis to all customers who qualify for child benefit on the basis of employment or residency. Some 80,000 certificates were issued in 2008 and 315,000 is the likely total issuing in 2009. The cost is an estimated €1 per transaction – including a postage-paid envelope for the customer’s reply. Savings in 2008 arising from the issue of the certificates were just under €27 million. In 2009 to date, savings are €58 million and are expected to be in the region of €80 million by the end of the year.''_


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## chlipps (16 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Thanks Gervan and Papercut for responses

I agree Gervan that it is a nuisance. My wife sent it back over the weekend so have missed out on registering the post...something i must do the next time

Papercut... that is a considerable saving for government... so i assume there is no way around this?...seems to be waste in my case as we are definitely staying in Ireland but how are they to know that.... I suppose we just have to continue to fill it in..Thanks again for info above


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## Gtec (17 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Interesting thread. I was not aware of this.

How do they ensure that Irish mothers have not left the state?


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## Papercut (17 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



chlipps said:


> Thanks Gervan and Papercut for responses
> 
> Papercut... that is a considerable saving for government... so i assume there is no way around this?...seems to be waste in my case as we are definitely staying in Ireland but how are they to know that.... I suppose we just have to continue to fill it in..Thanks again for info above



I really don't think there is, & I know that it is a bit of a pain for genuine cases such as yours & so many others, but I suppose they can justify it by the amount of savings they make by doing it. Presumably (& I don't know this for sure), if your wife were to become a naturalised Irish citizen, she would not be subject to the reviews, though that would be more trouble than to just continue filling in the forms.


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## Rocio (17 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Unfortunately, as I am not an Irish citizen, even though my husband is Irish, my two children are Irish and I haven been living and working in Ireland for the last 12 years, I also have to fill in this annoying form every three months! 

In the case of working mothers, surely they could easily check up whether you have paid up your PAYE and PRSI contributions the previous months and thus safely assume that you are still in the country?

By doing this they would further increase their savings.....


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## chlipps (17 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I thought the same Rocio on the PAYE/PRSI... but i asssume as they are 2 separate dept's there is no link passing thru the info between dept's

Good point Gtec, i assume there are many irish mothers that have already left.... and i assume they have no issue.

Lucky my wife is working... i dont know how she could fill the form if she was not employed as would not have the company stamp


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## Samantha (18 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I am not Irish and i received this letter every 3 months but I have never been asked to have the form signed by my workplace - I just need to provide which school my child is attending and for the baby which creche or doctor i am using for her - Child benefit has nothing to do with my work so they should not ask the employer to sign anything in relation to it.


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## Rocio (18 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I am the same as Samantha, I only have to provide details about my children's school/créche or GP, but my employer does not have to stamp anything


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## Papercut (18 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



Samantha said:


> I am not Irish and i received this letter every 3 months but I have never been asked to have the form signed by my workplace - I just need to provide which school my child is attending and for the baby which creche or doctor i am using for her - Child benefit has nothing to do with my work so they should not ask the employer to sign anything in relation to it.


From the same link as I posted above http://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2009-10-21.1046.0
According to Mary Hanafin, it's only 

''_In the case of EU nationals who are *working in Ireland* *but who have qualified children living in another EU state*, certification by their employer of continuing employment is requested._''


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## chlipps (18 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

We must be getting a different form as I dont recall having to mention creche.... but definitely employers stamp is required on the form we get

Based on *bold* text in Papercuts last mail, *'children living in another EU state'..* that does not apply to us as son is living in Ireland... I think I will have to ring them the next time the form comes out....

Thanks all for responses


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## mystry4all (18 Nov 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Hi chlipps,

I think they are thinking you have childeren living in other eu states and you are working in Ireland. and every time they want to reconfirm if you are still working in Ireland or not. Make you situation clear to them.


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## Dulceti0 (19 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I am neither Irish or from the EU and get the dr/school/ creche form. There must be different forms dependent on your situation. Recently I forgot to send in my form on time and my payment was stopped. I had to ring in to the office to get this reinstated.
@Gtec when I rang up, I was told there are now plans to send this form to all mothers and not just the non nationals.....


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## huskerdu (19 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I agree that it is a very blunt stick to solve a problem that is caused by the fact that the social welfare systems and the tax systems are not integrated. 
I do feel sorry for people  who are settled in Ireland for years, and have to fill this in every 3 months, it must make people feel unwelcome. 

Similar forms are sent to Irish families but not as often. 

Unfortunately, until Government departments get their act together, this seems to be the way that they will use to combat fraud.


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## chlipps (19 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

It should be very simple for the dept of social welfare and revenue to cross reference... a simple database showing that a person (pps no.) has paid paye/prsi should be enough to stop the issue of this letter every 3 months


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## ajapale (19 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

*Posted in wrong forum:* Other Financial Issues moved to  Welfare and State Benefits.

aj moderator


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## Welfarite (21 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



chlipps said:


> It should be very simple for the dept of social welfare and revenue to cross reference... a simple database showing that a person (pps no.) has paid paye/prsi should be enough to stop the issue of this letter every 3 months


 But what if the person is not working or claiming?


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## chlipps (30 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

But if it works for those working then why annoy them with letters to prove they are here when it is clear they are here from PAYE/PRSI payments. Also there should be an administration saving 

Yes there is an issue for those not working/claiming. Maybe another solution would be dept of education to link up with dept of social welfare. If dept of eduction has list of all kids in school via their pps number then why not pay them the child benefit... i know this only applies to those in school but again it would overall reduce the dept of social welfare admin costs. They would not have to send out letters to all those between 5 and 18 years that are resident here. One could even possibly assume that their younger brothers/sisters are also in ireland as I doubt very few families have kids split between countries

There is probably no clear solution for all parties but why not take a few solutions like above to cut back the paper mountain and associated administration costs. Then they can focus in on the few cases remaining to evaluate if they are justified or not. Maybe their are reasons for not implementing the above but I strongly believe there are means to improve efficiency between dept's.


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## Welfarite (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



chlipps said:


> But if it works for those working then why annoy them with letters to prove they are here when it is clear they are here from PAYE/PRSI payments. Also there should be an administration saving
> 
> Yes there is an issue for those not working/claiming. Maybe another solution would be dept of education to link up with dept of social welfare. If dept of eduction has list of all kids in school via their pps number then why not pay them the child benefit... i know this only applies to those in school but again it would overall reduce the dept of social welfare admin costs. They would not have to send out letters to all those between 5 and 18 years that are resident here. One could even possibly assume that their younger brothers/sisters are also in ireland as I doubt very few families have kids split between countries
> 
> There is probably no clear solution for all parties but why not take a few solutions like above to cut back the paper mountain and associated administration costs. Then they can focus in on the few cases remaining to evaluate if they are justified or not. Maybe their are reasons for not implementing the above but I strongly believe there are means to improve efficiency between dept's.


 

I don't see how your proposals would reduce admin costs. DSFA mailshots a 'catch all' letter from an existing database; how does your proposal make this dministratively easier or more effective?


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## Towger (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



Welfarite said:


> How does your proposal make this dministratively easier or more effective?


 
Running one line of simple SQL code between two tables in a database would save thousands of letters being sent and all that goes with it. This is basic 'Data Processing', yet it appears is not even done each year to check PPSNs in P35 Returns against PPSNs of people receiving dole payments.

BTW: It would also allow children of 'Irish' parents to be checked. I have not heard of 'Irish' parents getting one of these letters, yet I know of several families who have emigrated in the last couple of years.

I am sick of getting the foorm signed by my employer ever 3 months just because my wife is not Irish, no one else in the company has ever even gotten one!

Feel free to add my comments into the SW Suggestion Box, I will allow you do keep any gratuity!


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## Welfarite (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Yoy presume that Revenue and SW use the same database systems. Also, you presume that SW are not obliged to review a % of all claims (and it is not true that 'Irish' CB claims are not reviewed), especially those claims that have proven in the past to be open to abuse; there is plenty of evidence that non-Irish claimants defraud the system on a greater scle than Irish claimants, that is why they are targeted every three months. Live with the minor inconvenience in the knowledge that SW are trying to ensure that your taxes are paid to the right people. I don't understand your comment about the 'SW suggestion box' or 'gratuity'?


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## Gtec (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



> Running one line of simple SQL code between two tables in a database would save thousands of letters being sent and all that goes with it.



My understanding is that there is data protection implications of using the revenue data and comparing it to the Social Welfare data. Ir seems like a massive mistake in the data protection implementation if that is the case.

Personally I belive that everyone who takes any form of social welfare payment (child benifit, or any other) should have to opt in and in doing so agree that the Dept of Social Welfare have the right to investigate all data held on them by revenue (and possibly the depatment of justice, Garda, criminal assest bureau etc.). This would make checking for blatant fraud much simpler. I for one would have no issue signing up to this.

I get so annoyed when I listen to politicians talking about how they are starting to look into the possibilities of implementing ne computer systems blah blah. There is only 4.5 million people living here. In data processing terms this is such a small quanitiy of data as to be negligent.

Gtec


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## Towger (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I don't assume you use the same systems, although it would save the tax payer money if you did. It would a simple matter of exporting a file from one and importing it into the other. Although, I know from dealing with semi state mainframe programmers they like to put road blocks into simple operations. It would be at most, a few hours work on both sides, when you take the countless meetings out of the equation. 

While there maybe more evidence that "that non-Irish claimants defraud the system on a greater scle", it also standards to reason that a trawl through Irish claimants (child allowance) every few years would save a few bob and yearly for the P35 Return/Dole Claims.

 A Suggestion Box is used by many companies for their workers to made suggestions to improve their service/costs, often giving a reward for the best ideas.

Gtec, AFAIK the are exemptions for SW/Revenue in the Data Protection Acts for searching for Tax/SW fraud.  As you say your self the volume of data is very small in today's terms. Several years ago I was involved in some of SW systems using MS SQL and VB6/.NET, the days of an island like Ireland needing the power of a modern mainframe (still many old clunkers in use) for most 'large' systems is gone.


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## chlipps (31 Dec 2009)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Welfarite.. it may be easy to issue out the letters from the existing system.. but doesnt it cost money for the paper, ink, postage each way etc.. Then I assume that each letter has to be opened, checked and filed on return, taking up a lot of time for the personnel working in sw office. This labour time equals cost in my opinion when a simple software check between 2 databases confirms the same information.. Hence why i think there are savings to be made here.


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## Stronge (14 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Even though PAYE/PRSI payments are sent each month by the    employers to the Revenue Commissioners they do not know who the money refers to until the end of the tax year.  The Forms 35L (Ithink) are being sent to the Revenue by employers at the moment covering 2009.


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## Angies (19 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I get these aswell.  I am a cross border worker working in the north and my husband works in the south.  He has to get it signed by his employer.  We were late getting it back last time and had payment stopped.  Thankfully they did reinstate it and back payed it too.  but it is a real nuisance.


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## alaskaonline (21 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

i am EU citizen and i receive every three months a letter, too. at this stage, i had to fill out a form with doctor and creche details. the last 6 months, they asked me twice for my employer details, too. i can't think of any details, they haven't got of me yet.

also, someone said if you sent it by registered post it ends up in the wrong dept. - the postal address states clearly where it is suppose to go and so far, my return letters where received. knowing of people who have sent it by standard post and SW claims it was not received or not received within 21 days (another subject i could go into), got their CB payment stopped. a risk i can't take, so i rather pay € 5,70 for registered post.

for the record - i am living and working here for ten years. i really don't see the point in contacting the same people again and again. this is not anti fraud check, this is harrassment. and if anyone wants to tell me, that non-irish citizens are more likely to defraud the irish system, provide facts that irish citizens have never committed fraud!

non of my irish co-workers, neighbors and friends have received a letter to this day - not a single one.


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## Welfarite (21 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I am moving this to the LOS forum.


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## bond-007 (22 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

When the time comes I will do the CB claiming as the father. Can't be having this carry on of harassing mothers who happen to be not Irish citizens. 

I assume there is nothing to legally stop the father claiming the CB?


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## Welfarite (27 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

From the SW site:

Anti-fraud checks

EU/EEA citizens and Swiss national covered by EU Regulations are required to certify every 3 months that they continue to work in this State. 
Non-EU/EEA citizens are also required to certify every 3 months that they and their children continue to live in this State.

and 

*WHO IS ENTITLED TO CHILD BENEFIT*

*Child Living Full-Time With Mother/Step-Mother* 
Child Benefit is paid to the mother (or step-mother).
*Child Living Full-Time With Father/Step-Father Only* 
Child Benefit is paid to the father (or step-father).
*Child Not Residing Full-Time With Either Parent* 

Parents residing in separate households
Child Benefit is payable to the parent with whom the child resides the majority of the time. If the child resides 50% of the time with each parent, the mother is paid.
Parents Dead/Children Abandoned/Child Fostered
Child Benefit is payable to the woman who has care and charge of the child in the household in which the child lives (or the head of the household where there is no such woman in the household).
children In Institutions
Where a child is placed in an Institution on a voluntary basis, Child Benefit is payable to the person who would normally get the benefit - provided that person is making adequate contributions towards the cost of the child's maintenance in the institution.
Where the child is placed in an Institution through a Court Order, Child Benefit is _only payable_ if the child returns home on a regular basis.


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## RMCF (27 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

I think checks like this are good. 

This country is rife with benefit fraud, and anything that stops crooks stealing money from the taxpayer has to be welcomed.


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## alaskaonline (29 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



> This country is rife with benefit fraud, and anything that stops crooks stealing money from the taxpayer has to be welcomed.


 across the board, i totally agree - not based on nationality though!


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## chlipps (29 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

+1.. if it was not based solely on nationality.. then I would have accepted the procedure and not opened this post. The fact that it is only for non-irish mums is not fair as I assume there are many irish mums also after leaving the country, yet not requested to fill this form. All or nothing!


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## Welfarite (30 Jan 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

The review policy is based on stats for potential of fraudulent claims and not on nationality. The potential for non-irish mothers to claim CB while not resident here is currently targetted by SW as 'high risk' by SW and a policy was formulated to review such claimants every 3 months. And it gets results, well-diocumented. I honestly don't buy the argument that it should be dropped because it is causing inconvenience to some; after all is it a fairly substantial monthly payment that does not require much effort for a claimant to collect very month for up to 20 years.


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## alaskaonline (2 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



jaybird said:


> I don't see how it causes inconvenience either. I get the form, sign it and drop it back in the post in the enclosed paid envelope. Hardly harassment and bother is it?


 
lucky one - yours never got lost or delayed 



> The review policy is based on stats for potential of fraudulent claims and not on nationality


not true, check SW online, they specifically state that they target EU nationals. also if you call them up they are not shy to confirm it either, regardless if Customer Care Agent talks to you or higher Management 



> I honestly don't buy the argument that it should be dropped because it is causing inconvenience to some


 no one said it should be dropped. however it should be done in a fair, transparent way, across the board. not targetting people because of their nationality!



> that does not require much effort


 my HR dept. is sick to their teeth to fill out those forms every three months for a couple of hundred people who work here for 5yrs+
I am sick of it cause if I don't send it by registered post, SW claims they didnt get it on time and stop payment (been there, done it, no thanks!)

As mentioned in a previous post, there is no efficiency in sending a form out to people every three months who pay their PRSI every single month and which is well recorded too. This is my tax money they are wasting and going by all the budget announcements, this state needs money so why waste it so badly!

Also, if this state does fraud checks, it needs to be done regardless of nationality. It is a joke if this state thinks irish people do not defraud the system! There are generations growing in this country of families who never once worked cause they know all the lool pols in the system to get paid regardless. It's a shamble!

Oh and it is against the law to pick on non-irish people regardless if it is a company or a state/ government/ dept.!


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## chlipps (2 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Would love to see it tested on Irish mums and I bet this forum would be inundated with complaints!

One thing that would be great to see would an online means to confirm that the returned post had been processed (similar to the passport post).. at least this would allow people see that their documents are received, processed and hence not impact their payments


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## chlipps (4 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*



jaybird said:


> The only people who need to get it filled in by a work place are those who are not EU nationals. Do you really have hundreds of non-eu nationals in your workplace that all get these every 3 months?


 
My wife is an EU national and still needs to fill it by employer


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## Towger (5 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

It hardly seems like it 3 months has passed, when yet another form has arrived. The wife is convinced that the country is run my money wasting incompetent civil servants.   Who have nothing better to do than send out the same form every few weeks.


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## gebbel (6 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Until they come up with a better system then this one must continue. The amount of fraud that would be perpetrated on the State in the absence of some form of control would be astronomical. It's bad enough as it is.


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## dodo (6 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

My wife is not Irish and we receive this every 3 months, I understand why they do it ,due to benefit fraud.So if a a woman does not work then I can understand why she does get this form to fill out(stop possible fraud which is going on that is why they send this form out.Now as my wife has worked here for over 10 years and is still working then surly there should be a way to track that  she is still living in Ireland via the tax she pays, pps No etc.



Towger said:


> It hardly seems like it 3 months has passed, when yet another form has arrived. The wife is convinced that the country is run my money wasting incompetent civil servants.   Who have nothing better to do than send out the same form every few weeks.


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## bond-007 (6 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

Do they send this form to mothers who are UK citizens living here for years or is this reserved for people from the eastern states?


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## Towger (7 Feb 2010)

*Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon*

They send it to 'non nationals', however I dont know if people from the 'mainland' are considered 'non nationals' by 'the state'. As the 'high tech' solution is too much for SW to grasp, if the really want to reduce fraud, they should send it out to *everyone *yearly (whatever about more often to persions of no nation), or just go back to the old system of the childrens allowance book and post office, and have the post office check photo ID. Which is another story in its self!


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## LDFerguson (13 Apr 2010)

bond-007 said:


> Do they send this form to mothers who are UK citizens living here for years or is this reserved for people from the eastern states?


 
My wife was born and lived in England until 1995. She's been living in Ireland since then and now has an Irish passport. Both our kids were born in Ireland and I've never lived in any other country. 

We get the review form every three months too.


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## Papercut (18 Apr 2010)

Non-nationals or those with dual citizenship are subject to more rigorous or more regular checks simply because the likelihood is much greater that they could be double claiming from both their country of origin & here. The system is open to abuse by anyone, but probably more so by non-nationals purely because an entitlement may exist for either parent to claim in their country of origin.

  Obviously, for genuine cases it is a pain, but it is a bigger pain for those who attempt to abuse the system. Some may argue that the controls are not strict enough considering the amount of money that has been saved as a result of existing measures, though I’d guess that the majority of money saved is due to non-nationals returning home for good without informing DSFA.

  I suppose one way of avoiding the hassle or at least for less frequent reviews might be to stop making the payments into bank accounts & by payable orders. For those who are employed the payment could be made as a non-taxable source of income not subject to PRSI/income levies etc. through their payroll upon instruction from DSFA. For those who are not employed, instead of being paid by a book of payable orders or into a bank account they could receive the payment by means of a social services card in a Post Office on a weekly basis instead of monthly, similar to unemployment payments that must be collected within a certain timeframe. 

  Once eligibility had been established to begin with, surely these would be realistic measures to introduce, & both nationals & non-nationals would be subject to the same treatment? It might not fully stamp out double or fraudulent claims, as, human nature being as it is, as long as there is a system there will always be people ready to abuse it, but it would at least go a long way to ensure that people would need to be physically present in the country in order to receive payment. 

  Does anyone have any idea of what sort of control checks are made in other EU countries for non-nationals claiming the equivalent of Child Benefit?


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## Papercut (11 May 2010)

*Ó Cuív – ensuring Child Benefit records are up to date*

''_Éamon Ó Cuív, TD, Minister for Social Protection, said today (10 May 2010) that letters are issuing on a continuous basis to some 120,000 parents who receive Child Benefit payment(s). 

The initiative, - which involves contacting parents who would not have received recent correspondence from the Minister’s Department - is part of the Department’s ongoing customer service and control work. Parents are asked to verify that they continue to reside in Ireland, that they satisfy the conditions for Child Benefit and that all details held by the Department are correct._ 

_Minister Ó Cuív said: "This initiative we are undertaking on Child Benefit is part of our control programme. I simply want to make sure parents are receiving what they are entitled to and that the information provided by them is up to date. 
_
_It also means that payments are not being made to people who have left the jurisdiction. In this way we are ensuring that the resources we have are going to those who need them." The Minister added: "I am fully aware of the importance to families of this monthly payment."_

_The Department is asking parents who are contacted as part of the letters mail-shot, to respond as soon as possible (within 21 days). In particular, parents who have changed address and who have not informed the Department should update this information immediately_'' 

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Press/PressReleases/2010/Pages/pr070510.aspx


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