Post
by Brigid from Ireland » Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:14 pm
Language issue - when i said permanent residence I was not referring to a permanent right to reside. I mean that she must not indicate an intention to stay for a set period of time only ie she must not say 'I am staying in Ireland 6 months/5 years/10 years', I mean she must say that it is her intention to stay in Ireland permanently. The fact that she may have the right to reside for 5 years only is not relevant, as this permission to reside can obviously be extended at the end of the 5 years. So if she says that she intends to stay in Ireland on a permanent basis then her opinion on the matter is what counts, not the length of time permitted on a Residence Card, and I think she will get the free travel.
I genuinely see no problem with free travel or long term illness card (the long term illness card is no different to the Drugs Payment Scheme card, it is much the same system), but it is your decision. If you think about free travel, it costs the state nothing, because the bus/train travels anyway, even if it is empty, so this is given to old people to encourage them to be active, as being active usually means better health and fewer stays in hospital, so it can save money in the long run.
In my view it is not wise to apply for the state pension non con, as this is definitely public funds. The medical card is more of a grey area, and it depends on how much you need it, the problem with her health insurance is that it will not cover pre-existing conditions, so even with health insurance she can have big costs if she goes to hospital, so for that reason I think the medical card needs careful consideration. However the HSE understands that if she has no money she cannot pay hospital bill, so maybe it does not matter anyway.
The payment of a direct debit from you to her bank account as proof that you support her, in the amount of 100 euro per week, is recommended anyway, even if she does not want medical card or pension, as public servants like paperwork, and this shows that you are fulfilling your stated intention to support her. Also if you pay this amount every week, and she clearly spends it, then after she gets citizenship she can show that this is her income and at that stage the evidence of this income will be useful to her if she needs things like nursing care or hospital care. (If someone goes into hospital here they are allowed to keep 35 euro per week of their income for personal items like shower gel/clothes, the rest is payable to the nursing home, so in the event she needed nursing home care and you had proof of income of 100 euro per week, then she keeps 35, nursing home gets the rest). This makes it easier than saying that you are responsible for all costs, as the average salary of a son could not pay nursing home fees of 800 euro per week. Therefore defining her income with paperwork has many advantages for the future.
I do not know the maximum time allowed out of the country for citizenship, but for state pension non con it would be about two weeks per year, so if she intends to be out of the country for longer than that the state pension is not possible anyway. I think time out of the country will cause problems with citizenship. I also think she needs to create paperwork/evidence as proof of being in the country. If you think about it, it is obvious that a working person is in the country, as their employer gives payslips as proof of being in work. It is obvious that a young mother is in Ireland, as she is usually the person getting children to school every day, so people in these categories have obvious proof of being in Ireland. An old person needs to be seen to use their bank account to pay for groceries, or they need to go to the doctor so that the doctor can honestly say he has seen them 4/6 times a year, or they need to go to religious services so that a religious leader can say they attend regularly or they need to join a local club of some sort and attend regularly, as proof of being in Ireland. The type of absence and the length of it would count - a three day weekend visit to the UK to shop/see grandchildren is not relevant as an absence, but a three month stay in UK/India is very relevant. If she needs necessary medical treatment abroad this might be permitted but could complicate citizenship, so best to stay in Ireland if she can do so.
Funnily enough, I think that she might be eligible for a European Health Insurance Card from Ireland once she has her stamp 4, to be used in the event that for example she was visiting her grandchildren in the UK. She might as well apply for one, but I think only after she has her stamp 4.
BL
