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Know Your Rights >Accessing Social Protection

Accessing Social Protection
The Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) is responsible for the social welfare system. Details of different services & contact details for local offices can be found on www.welfare.ie

The Social Welfare system in Ireland has two schemes:

1) Social Insurance (Contributory).
This is available to those who have paid a specific number of social insurance contributions, i.e. PRSI ("Pay Related Social Insurance"). The different payments usually have the term 'contributory' or 'benefit' in the title.
Note: Social security contributions paid in EU countries including new accession states can be used for benefit claims. You can collect special forms from (E104 and E301) your country before leaving, which will make it easier to make claims in Ireland. For more information click here.

2) Social Assistance (Non-Contributory).
This is paid on the basis of having a low income and is means tested (i.e. your income must be below a certain level). These payments do not depend on contributions made through PRSI.

Please contact DSFA for a full list of Social Insurance and Assistance payments.

Supplementary Welfare Allowance & Exceptional Needs Payments:
Health Service Executive Supplementary Welfare Allowance provides a basic weekly allowance as a right to eligible people who have little or no income. People with low incomes may also qualify for a weekly supplement payment under the scheme to meet certain special needs, for example, help with rent/mortgage interest payments. In addition, payments can also be made for urgent or exceptional needs. Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Exceptional Needs Payments are administered by the Health Services Executive (HSE). Health and personal social services in Ireland are now delivered by the Health Service Executive, through a network of Local Health Offices, health centres and clinics. You should apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance to the Community Welfare Officer at your local health centre.
For more information click here
For Local Health Centres: click here

Habitual Residence Condition and Access to Social Protection
On 1st May 2004 the Irish government introduced the Habitual Residence Condition (HRC) as an additional criterion for qualifying for social assistance payments, Child Benefit (CB) and access to emergency accommodation. To demonstrate that they are 'habitually resident' in Ireland in order to qualify for such payments, a person must provide evidence that they have been living in Ireland for approximately 2 years or more, and that they intend to settle here and make it their permanent home. Information about the Habitual Residence Condition can be found here

Note: Since its introduction there have been a number of changes in the application of the Habitual Residence Condition to assess applications for social protection:

Child Benefit: As Child Benefit is considered a family payment under EU law it is not subject to the HRC where EU and EEA nationals are concerned. EU and EEA workers can access Child Benefit even if their children are not resident in the Sate. In addition, the Department of Social and Family Affairs has also decided to make Child Benefit available to all non-EEA nationals working in the State.

One Parent Family Payment: As this is also considered a family payment under EU law all EU and EEA nationals working in the state are entitled to apply for this.

Supplementary Welfare Allowance: All EU & EEA workers can now access these payments as long as they have a history of working in the state. The Community Welfare Officer, who administers the payment through the local Health Centres, decides whether the work done can be considered as 'effective and genuine work'. Eg, an EEA national who shows s/he has been working for 3 hours per day, five days a week for the last 3 months could be considered to have "genuine and effective" work. There is no clear definition of "genuine and effective employment" but an example given in the original DSFA circular states that "an EEA national who shows s/he has been working for 3 hours per day, five days a week for the last 3 months, and could be considered to have effective and genuine work". See.

The Habitual Residence Condition test is still applied to Unemployment Assistance.
For further information on the HRC click here.
Or contact your local social welfare officer.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office
If you disagree with the decision of the Deciding Officer of the Social Welfare Services concerning your entitlements, you have the right to appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The Appeals Office operates independently of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions on social welfare statutory entitlements. It also deals with appeals by persons dissatisfied with certain decisions made by Health Boards in relation to Supplementary Welfare Allowance. If you are unhappy with a decision you can contact the Appeals Office on:
LoCall 1890 74 74 34
Email: swappeals@welfare.ie
For more information click here.

If you are not entitled to any benefits/assistance/allowance
There are a number of organisations you can contact for assistance:

Repatriation:
If you decide to leave Ireland and need financial assistance in returning home contact: