THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of turning its back on returning emigrants following fresh evidence of a crackdown on their claims for social welfare.
Crosscare, a group that provides advice to Irish migrants, said yesterday a growing number of returning emigrants were being refused welfare, often on spurious grounds related to the recession.
One man who returned to live with his wife and child after four years abroad was recently refused an emergency payment because a community welfare officer argued he had reduced his chances of getting a job by returning home.
“At present, Ireland has one of the highest rates of unemployment in all 25 EU states. By voluntarily remaining in this State, you are, therefore deemed to have placed yourself in a position where you will not be able to provide for your own independent financial support,” said the letter refusing his claim for a payment.
Two other Irish nationals who were refused social welfare last year were left destitute and homeless, according to Crosscare.
Department of Social Protection figures show 1,723 Irish nationals were refused welfare payments because they did not satisfy “habitual residency rules” in 2008 and 2009, compared to 853 in the previous two-year period.
These figures do not include details on the number of people refused supplementary welfare allowance – emergency payments handled by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The HSE does not collect these statistics.
Crosscare said the biggest problem lies with community welfare officers’ misinterpreting the complex habitual residency rules, which are designed to prevent “welfare tourism” within the EU.
The assessment for habitual residence is based on an analysis of five factors measuring a person’s connection to the country. It does not refer to the current state of the economy, which should not be a factor in refusing a payment.
Joe O’Brien, policy officer at Crosscare, said a decision to refuse welfare due to the state of the economy was “outrageous”.
“It is getting to the stage where we have to consider warning people that if they emigrate now and return within a few years, the State may refuse to grant them social welfare,” said Mr O’Brien.
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said last night he could not rewrite the habitual residency rules to favour Irish emigrants because this would fall foul of EU anti-discrimination rules. He said the department was working on new guidelines to clarify the rules for community welfare officers.
Fine Gael spokesman on social protection Michael Ring said he is being contacted by more and more Irish people facing problems with welfare claims on their return from a few years abroad.
“I am not aware of any other country that treats its emigrants like this. I think the Government could face a test case on this shortly,” he said.