Government officials expect the projected cost of €100 million for paying child benefit to EU migrant workers could fall significantly after it emerged that many applicants have since returned to their home country.
Some 350 workers a week from Poland and other EU states have been filing applications for child benefit following publicity over their entitlement to the payment earlier this year.
Officials at the Department of Social and Family Affairs had projected in May that up to 16,000 new applicants could file claims this year, sending the cost of welfare claims up by almost €100 million next year.
However, in recent weeks officials have found a "significant" number of applicants had left Ireland or had their families join them here. As a result, they will be paid under normal domestic legislation, or else will only qualify for child benefit for the time of their employment in Ireland.
In a parliamentary question, Minister for Social Affairs Séamus Brennan said it was too early to establish accurately the extent of the development. But he believed it would influence the overall amount of benefit payable to non-resident children.
Under a 30-year-old EU law, employees from any member state can claim child benefit in the country they are working in, even if their children are living in their home country.
The new €1,000 childcare subsidy for under-sixes will be paid automatically alongside child benefit from August this year.
Officials say there are around 8,500 child benefit claims on hand that have yet to be processed. Almost 90 per cent of these claims are from Polish nationals working in Ireland, but whose families reside in Poland.
Child benefit rates in Ireland (around €150 a month) and new childcare supplement (€1,000 annually or €83 a month) are much higher than many former accession states such as Poland (€11 a month) and Latvia (€9). It is more in Lithuania (€27), but varies depending on income, while in Slovenia it is €16-€90, also depending on income.
The entitlement of migrant workers from EU states to child benefit and new childcare supplement in Ireland for non-resident children sparked a political controversy earlier this year between Fine Gael and the Government.