EU workers who move to work in Ireland are eligible for the new €1,000 childcare payments outlined in the Budget, the European Commission said yesterday.
A commission spokeswoman said that under EU law there was no difference between Irish people and migrant workers who moved to the Republic from other EU states.
"Workers coming from other EU member states must be treated exactly the same way as Irish workers, and are eligible for benefits," said the spokeswoman for employment and social affairs commissioner Vladimir Spidla.
The rules governing welfare benefits for migrant workers are laid out in Regulation No 1408/71 of the EU treaty. This states that people residing in another member state are "subject to the same obligations and enjoy the same benefits under the legislation of any member state as the nationals of that state".
The regulation applies to legislation relating to social security that concerns sickness and maternity benefits, invalidity benefits, old-age benefits, survivor's benefits, benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases, unemployment benefits, family benefits and death grants. It does not apply to medical or social assistance.
The European Court of Justice has also ruled in favour of parents in similar cases relating to child-benefit payments, principally the joined test cases of C-245/94 and C-312/94 involving Ingrid Hoever and Iris Zachaw against the German Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The ruling in 1996 extended the scope of EU law to include child-rearing allowances.
However, a British scheme to provide a trust fund worth £250 to every child born in Britain is believed not to be payable to the children of migrant workers if they are born outside the UK.
A commission source said yesterday this was because the trust fund was an investment fund rather than a child benefit. However, the source said there was no wriggle-room for Ireland with its €1,000 childcare payment.
It emerged yesterday that the Government's new €1,000 childcare payment for under-sixes is likely to be paid automatically to the children of migrant workers even when they are living abroad.