Social Welfare Appeal G0099

This case concerns the judicial review of a decision by a Deciding Officer (DO) on 28 August 2009 whereby the Appellant was refused Jobseekers Allowance (JA) on the basis that he was a Romanian Citizen who failed to fulfil the requirements for JA. The DO held that the Appellant was not permitted to claim JA as he did not have a work permit for twelve consecutive months since 1 January 2006 and was therefore not available for full time work. This decision also had the effect of preventing the Appellant from receiving Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) and Rent Supplement (RS).

The Appellant is a Romanian citizen who resided and worked in Ireland since 2004. When the Appellant first came to the State he was not aware of a requirement to have a work permit in order to work. Between September 2006 and April 2007 the Appellant worked as an insured employee and tax and PRSI was paid to the Revenue Commissioners by his employers.

From May 2007 to November 2008 he worked in a self-employed capacity paying all the requisite VAT, Income Tax and PRSI to the Revenue Commissioners. He was joined by his spouse and four children in February 2007. The Appellant lost his employment due to the economic downturn in November 2008. The Appellant’s fifth child was born in Ireland in July 2009.