The Free Legal Advice Centres Ltd (FLAC) has partnered with the Aire Centre in London, and Radboud University in the Netherlands, on a new project to address EU migrants' access to special non-contributory benefits. The project, funded by the EU Commission, runs from December 2011 to March 2013 and aims to improve the knowledge and capacity of legal advisers to support EU migrants in accessing special non-contributory benefits across three cities: London, Amsterdam and Dublin.
The project will involve monitoring the experience of EU migrants applying for special non-contributory benefits, or in other words, those listed in Annex X of EC Regulation 883/04 in the three cities. The project partners will also provide 'second tier advice' to NGOs and lawyers working with EU migrants applying for these particular payments. In the Irish context the relevant social welfare payments are Jobseekers' Allowance, State Pension (non-contributory), Widow's and Widower's (non-contributory) Pension, Disability Allowance, Mobility Allowance and Blind Pension. However, there has been recent speculation that these would be replaced by a single social assistance payment.
The first round table event was held in London in January 2012 to discuss the details of the project. Saoirse Brady, FLAC's Policy and Advocacy Officer, attended the roundtable in her capacity as the Dublin project officer along with Karen McLaughlin, a legal intern working on social welfare law issues. At the event, Adrian Berry, a barrister with Garden Court Chambers, gave a very informative presentation on the practical application of EC Regulations 883/04 and 987/09 and Martin Williams from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) spoke about access to benefits in the context of administration, delays and remedies within the British social welfare system. Other presentations by AIRE centre staff focussed on the right to reside test and related litigation including the Patmalniece case as well as sessions on the difficulties faced by victims of human trafficking, victims of domestic violence and pregnant woman in accessing social welfare entitlements. Materials from the roundtable can be found here.
There will be a similar roundtable in Dublin on 1 March to outline and discuss the project in the Irish context and details of this event will be included in the next PILA bulletin. It is also planned to issue information notes outlining the entitlement of EU migrants to special non-contributory cash benefits in each of the three Member States involved in the project.
About the Habitual Residence Condition
The Habitual Residence Condition is one issue which has had an impact on the particular payments which are the subject of the project. FLAC has recently updated its Guide to the Social Welfare Appeals System, reflecting the incorporation of the Health Service Executive Appeals process into the Social Welfare Appeals Office. FLAC has also updated its FLACsheet Guide to the Habitual Residence Condition.
New FLAC social welfare clinic in Dublin
In related news, FLAC has established a specialised FLAC social welfare clinic in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin. The clinic is held on Thursday evenings from 7.30 to 9pm in St Andrew's Resource Centre, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.