The entitlement of EU migrant workers to the new childcare supplement and child benefit could see the cost of welfare claims rise by almost €100 million next year, according to internal Government estimates.
The number of applications for the payment has increased from 80 to 350 a week following publicity over migrant workers' entitlement to the new childcare supplement.
Officials at the Department of Social and Family Affairs now estimate that if applications continue to be lodged at current rates, the cost of extra claims could be up to €100 million next year. The figure could be less, however, if applications begin to trail off later this year.
The cost to the State for this year, however, is likely to be in the region of €25 million as many claims are still being processed.
The figures appear to bolster Fine Gael's claims earlier this year that the eligibility of EU migrant workers to the payments could cost €150 million. However, the increase in applications among EU workers came as a result of the Opposition party's statements on the issue.
Under a 30-year-old EU law, employees from any member state can claim child benefit in the country they are working in, even if their children are living in their home country.
The new €1,000 childcare subsidy for under-sixes will be paid automatically alongside child benefit from August this year.
Migrant workers from EU states will be able to receive both child benefit (around €150 a month in Ireland) and the new childcare subsidy (€1,000 annually or €83 a month).
Assuming applications continue at current rates, officials say the cost of paying the childcare supplement to EU citizens on behalf of children living here or abroad will cost between €1 million and €4 million this year, while the cost of child benefit is likely to be around €25 million.
This is roughly in line with what the Taoiseach told the Dáil earlier this year when he said the cost of the childcare supplement for migrant workers would be in the region of €1 million, compared to €50 million claimed by Fine Gael. But the cost of both the child benefit and child supplement could increase to almost €100 million next year due to the processing of a backlog of claims, closer to Fine Gael's estimates.
