High Court challenge on welfare payments

A ROMANIAN family including three Irish-born children are “facing destitution” following decisions by the Irish authorities stopping all welfare payments to them since July last year, the High Court was told yesterday.

The family have brought a legal challenge aimed at overturning those decisions. Petru Solovastru, his wife Aurica and their six children, with an address at Hazelbury Green, Philipstown, Dublin, are almost destitute and relying on friends and charity to survive, the court heard.

Their children range in age from eight months to 10 years, three were born here and some are attending national school. Mr Solovastru, a metal fixer, came here in 2004, worked for a time for Pierse Construction and then for another company, and paid taxes while employed, the court heard.

He claims he was self-employed with another company from May 2007 to November 2008, but his work then dried up due to the downturn. His wife had arrived in 2007 with their three children, and three more were born here.

The judicial review proceedings by the couple opened before Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne yesterday and centre on the interpretation of an EC directive of 2004, related to freedom of movement across the EU for EU member state citizens, and a statutory instrument of 2006 which gave effect to that directive here.

The action is against the Minister for Social Protection, the HSE and other State defendants, represented by Cormac Corrigan. Opening the case, Cormac Ó Duallachain with Derek Shorthall, for the couple, said the issues in the case had their turning point in November 2008 when Mr Solovastru could no longer work for himself and an issue arose as to his legal entitlement to live here.

All social welfare payments have a “right of residence” requirement, and Mr Solovastru contends he has a right of residence here under the directive and SI 2006 on grounds of being an EU citizen and self-employed person in involuntary unemployment, having been employed for more than a year. Mr Solovastru is still deemed to be self-employed despite there being no work available in that capacity, and falls within the protection of SI 2006, which applied the directive here, counsel said.

The Irish authorities had erred in law in saying a Romanian citizen cannot get jobseekers’ allowance unless they had a work permit here, it was claimed. There is no restriction on self-employed persons working here, it was also claimed.

The court heard the couple received child benefit for the period from April 2008 to November 2008. Mr Solovastru then applied for jobseekers’ allowance and, pending a decision on that application, also applied for supplementary allowances.

He received supplementary welfare and rent allowance but, after his jobseekers’ application was refused in August 2009 on grounds he had no work permit for a year from 2006, his position was reviewed. The supplementary and rent allowance payments were stopped in June 2010 on grounds including absence of a work permit and claims he did not meet habitual residence conditions.

The family sought advice from the Northside Community Law Centre and initiated the judicial review. While they have appealed against the decisions refusing them the various welfare payments when decisions on those appeals remain outstanding, they say their case is not premature because the appeals centre on the interpretation of the EU directive.

A court declaration as to the employment status of Mr Solovastru could be applied across the range of appeals, Mr Ó Duallachain said. The family are impecunious and cannot await the appeals, which have already involved considerable delays, he added. The case continues.