State paid €4.5m for children living abroad
The Government paid €4.5m in childcare allowances for children living outside of Ireland last year, new figures reveal.
The overseas Early Childcare Supplement payments quadrupled between 2007 and 2008 from €1.1m to €4.5m, the Department of Social and Family Affairs has confirmed.
This year, non-resident children are expected to account for €7m of the childcare payments because a massive backlog of arrears is slowly being cleared.
Compared to 2006 when 536 non-resident children received the allowance, some 3,963 last year qualified because their parents were working in Ireland.
The number of non-resident children qualifying for the allowance is estimated to reach about 7,000 this year, at a projected cost of €7m.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Family Affairs said the claims relating to children residing outside of Ireland are complex because it is necessary to cross-check details with European authorities. Hence, significant backlogs and delays have occurred.
When the childcare payment was launched in 2006, it emerged that children of migrant workers who are resident in their home country were entitled to the annual €1,000 payment, even though it was designed to help spefically with childcare costs.
An EU convention means employees from any member state can claim allowance in the country they work in for their non-resident children.
Back in 2006, when it emerged that non-resident children would qualify for the payment, Fine Gael claimed that it could end up costing €50m per year.
Accounting for the payment overseas has also proved resource intensive with 23 permanent posts and 16 temporary posts in the Department of Social and Family Affairs to deal with claims for non-resident children.
Overall, the direct non-taxable payment cost €477m last year, compared to €417m in 2007 and €292m in 2006.
However, that bill is expected to fall substantially this year to €340m because of the Government's decision to cut the payment from €1,104 to €996.
- ine Kerr Political Correspondent
