Problems with the high fraud rate and overpayment of child benefit to non-national recipients should be eradicated before social welfare entitlement is extended further under EU rules, the Dáil was told.
The warning came as the House accepted a proposed EU Council regulation, which would extend current social welfare benefits to "persons who are not professionally active, not just workers as heretofore but all legally resident third country nationals", said Minister of State Pat "The Cope" Gallagher, who introduced the measure.
EU regulations adopted in 2003 currently ensure that non-EU or third country nationals working in more than one EU state can combine social welfare contributions from those countries to claim social security benefits. Mr Gallagher believed "the costs will be minimal" because the extra people included would be "relatively low". Accepting the proposal would allow Ireland to participate in and influence negotiations on the proposal, he said.
He added that "as there are no nationality conditions in Irish social security legislation, people who are legally resident here and who take up or are entitled to take up work in Ireland have the same social welfare entitlements as Irish nationals.
"I want also to emphasise that these extended rules do not give entitlement to third country nationals to enter, stay or reside in a member state or to have access to its labour markets."
Labour social and family affairs spokeswoman Róisín Shortall said, however, that while "the proposal is undoubtedly welcome", she noted in the Comptroller & Auditor General's report "a high rate of fraud and overpayment of child benefit among non-national recipients".
A department survey revealed "a fraud rate of 14 per cent among non-nationals whereas the Irish rate was 2.6 per cent", with a liability of €31.6 million.
It was therefore "important to eradicate these problems before we extend entitlement further. We certainly do not want to be seen as the soft touch of Europe".
Fine Gael spokeswoman Olwyn Enright also supported the proposal but expressed concern about the cost implications of the measure.
The Government had not realised that the early childhood supplement would be paid to non-nationals and it had cost more than €10 million to date, while the Government had estimated €1 million, she said.
Finian McGrath (Ind, Dublin North-Central) backing the proposal, said "we must support those who find themselves unemployed, not just Irish people but everyone who has contributed to the economy".
