Migrants’ Access to Social Protection in Ireland

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on the link between migration and social protection in Ireland. The chapter has two main goals. First, it presents the general legal framework regulating the social protection system in Ireland, paying particular attention to any potential differences in terms of conditions of access to social benefits between national residents, non-national residents, and non-resident nationals. Secondly, the chapter discusses how these different groups of individuals access social benefits across five policy areas: unemployment, health care, family benefits, pensions, and guaranteed minimum resources. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the relationship between migration and social protection policy.