Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 months

Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon

My wife is not Irish and we receive this every 3 months, I understand why they do it ,due to benefit fraud.So if a a woman does not work then I can understand why she does get this form to fill out(stop possible fraud which is going on that is why they send this form out.Now as my wife has worked here for over 10 years and is still working then surly there should be a way to track that she is still living in Ireland via the tax she pays, pps No etc.

Towger said:
It hardly seems like it 3 months has passed, when yet another form has arrived. The wife is convinced that the country is run my money wasting incompetent civil servants. :eek: Who have nothing better to do than send out the same form every few weeks.
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Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon

Do they send this form to mothers who are UK citizens living here for years or is this reserved for people from the eastern states?
 
Re: Proof of residency form from Dept of Social Welfare for Child Benefit every 3 mon

They send it to 'non nationals', however I dont know if people from the 'mainland' are considered 'non nationals' by 'the state'. As the 'high tech' solution is too much for SW to grasp, if the really want to reduce fraud, they should send it out to everyone yearly (whatever about more often to persions of no nation), or just go back to the old system of the childrens allowance book and post office, and have the post office check photo ID. Which is another story in its self!
 
bond-007 said:
Do they send this form to mothers who are UK citizens living here for years or is this reserved for people from the eastern states?
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My wife was born and lived in England until 1995. She's been living in Ireland since then and now has an Irish passport. Both our kids were born in Ireland and I've never lived in any other country.

We get the review form every three months too. :rolleyes:
 
Non-nationals or those with dual citizenship are subject to more rigorous or more regular checks simply because the likelihood is much greater that they could be double claiming from both their country of origin & here. The system is open to abuse by anyone, but probably more so by non-nationals purely because an entitlement may exist for either parent to claim in their country of origin.

Obviously, for genuine cases it is a pain, but it is a bigger pain for those who attempt to abuse the system. Some may argue that the controls are not strict enough considering the amount of money that has been saved as a result of existing measures, though I’d guess that the majority of money saved is due to non-nationals returning home for good without informing DSFA.

I suppose one way of avoiding the hassle or at least for less frequent reviews might be to stop making the payments into bank accounts & by payable orders. For those who are employed the payment could be made as a non-taxable source of income not subject to PRSI/income levies etc. through their payroll upon instruction from DSFA. For those who are not employed, instead of being paid by a book of payable orders or into a bank account they could receive the payment by means of a social services card in a Post Office on a weekly basis instead of monthly, similar to unemployment payments that must be collected within a certain timeframe.

Once eligibility had been established to begin with, surely these would be realistic measures to introduce, & both nationals & non-nationals would be subject to the same treatment? It might not fully stamp out double or fraudulent claims, as, human nature being as it is, as long as there is a system there will always be people ready to abuse it, but it would at least go a long way to ensure that people would need to be physically present in the country in order to receive payment.

Does anyone have any idea of what sort of control checks are made in other EU countries for non-nationals claiming the equivalent of Child Benefit?
 
Ó Cuív – ensuring Child Benefit records are up to date

''Éamon Ó Cuív, TD, Minister for Social Protection, said today (10 May 2010) that letters are issuing on a continuous basis to some 120,000 parents who receive Child Benefit payment(s).

The initiative, - which involves contacting parents who would not have received recent correspondence from the Minister’s Department - is part of the Department’s ongoing customer service and control work. Parents are asked to verify that they continue to reside in Ireland, that they satisfy the conditions for Child Benefit and that all details held by the Department are correct.

Minister Ó Cuív said: "This initiative we are undertaking on Child Benefit is part of our control programme. I simply want to make sure parents are receiving what they are entitled to and that the information provided by them is up to date.

It also means that payments are not being made to people who have left the jurisdiction. In this way we are ensuring that the resources we have are going to those who need them." The Minister added: "I am fully aware of the importance to families of this monthly payment."

The Department is asking parents who are contacted as part of the letters mail-shot, to respond as soon as possible (within 21 days). In particular, parents who have changed address and who have not informed the Department should update this information immediately''

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Press/PressReleases/2010/Pages/pr070510.aspx
 
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