moving back to Ireland what am i entitled to?

Hi all

Firstly i would like to thank everyone who provides me with any information.


I am moving back to Ireland in Oct due to my mothers illness. I know the work situation in Ireland is poor so I am worried for i will be 23 weeks pregnant when i return that it will be near impossible for me to find a suitable job.

I am currently living in Canada and i have lived away from Ireland coming up to 5 years. My concern is I have some savings but this was for the baby and returning to Ireland i dont want to become financially strained because I or my husband cant find a job.

For I will be a returning Irish citizen

1.Would i be entitled to any sort of social welfare support while I look for work.
2. Will my husband be entitled to any sort of social welfare support (note is of not Irish decent...he is an Australian citizen) while he is looking for work.
3.Am I able to apply for medicare.... I cant afford to be paying for all the medical fees, doctors, hospital etc

If we didn't have to return we would not but we have no choice to make the move. We dont want to spend all our saving over the next 6 months to the year in Ireland.... we dont have enough with the cost of things in Ireland... we are already taking a large chunk out just to pay for the flights home.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and I hope the news is positive or we will not know what to do

Hi butters
I would say you will first have to satisfy Habitual Residence Conditions in order to qualify for Jobseekers Allowance while you are looking for work. Also you must be actively seeking employment to qualify for this payment.
This link below shows examples of scenarios of people who made a claim for social welfare payments but first had to be assessed as being Habitual Resident. Hope this helps.....
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/habres_supplement.aspx

Just to let you know all medical care for pregnant women is free including prenatal check ups, delivery, hospital stay and postnatal check ups (working or not) up untill the baby is 6 weeks old.

Hi Ann1 and Sammi

Thank you for the info... to be honest as long as the medical side is covered I dont care about the dole part... We could survive on our savings... sadly i just received bad news that my Mum was rushed to hospital so i may be packing very soon.