Thousands claiming Child Benefit for children living overseas
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Over 3,000 people not living in Ireland are claiming child benefit for over 6,000 children, new figures show.
It means that at least €866,040 in Child Benefit is being paid to children living overseas each month. This adds up to €10.4m over the course of a year.
However, the actual amount could be higher as different rates are paid in respect of twins and triplets.
Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary confirmed the figures in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD John Paul O'Shea.
The Cork North-West TD asked the Minister for a breakdown of child benefit paid to persons living in countries other than Ireland.
Child Benefit is an automatic monthly €140 payment to the parents or guardians of children under the age of 16.
Since 2024, parents can apply for the payment if their children are 16, 17 or 18 and still in full time education or if they have a disability and cannot support themselves.
Minister Calleary confirmed that under European Union (EU) regulations, Child Benefit is considered a "Family Payment".
If a UK, EU or European Economic Area (EEA) citizen is working in Ireland, they can apply for Irish Child Benefit.
If the child is living in a different EU or EEA country from the worker, they can also apply for any family benefit payments they are entitled to in the country where their children live.
Minister Calleary confirmed that as of April 30, Child Benefit was being paid to 3,381 customers in respect of 6,186 non-resident children."
In total, people in 22 countries were in receipt of these payments.
The highest number of claims was in the United Kingdom, where 1,310 people were getting the payment for 2,695 children.
Some 1,129 people are in receipt of Child Benefit for 1,129 children living in Poland, while 685 parents are claiming for 1,320 children in Romania.
All other countries have receipt numbers in the hundreds, and payments are being made to countries including Lithuania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Spain, Slovakia, Latvia, and Hungary.
Deputy O'Shea told the Irish Mirror that he inquired about the figures to assist him in his work as Chairman of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee.
He said: "As the newly elected chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, I have put in a series of questions about expenditure across a range of different schemes, such as disability, illness benefit and child benefit.
"This information is useful in providing me with a greater understanding of the social welfare system.
"I intend to tease through all of this detail out further with the Department when they appear before the committee."
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