When the childcare payment was launched in 2006, it emerged that children of migrant workers who are resident in their home country are entitled to the annual €1,000 payment, even though it was designed to help specifically with childcare costs.

An EU convention means employees from any member state can claim allowance in the country in which they work for their non-resident children.

In 2006, when it emerged that non-resident children would qualify for the payment, Fine Gael claimed that it could end up costing €50m per year.

In 2006, 536 non-resident children received the allowance, while last year 3,963 qualified at a cost of €4.5m. This year, the bill for non-resident children is expected to be around €7m because of a massive backlog of arrears which is being cleared slowly.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Family Affairs said the claims relating to children residing outside of Ireland were complex because it was necessary to cross-check details with European authorities and, therefore, significant backlogs and delays had occurred.

23 permanent staff members and 16 temporary staff members and employed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs to deal exclusively with claims and payments for non-resident children.

Overall, the Early Childcare Supplement payments cost €477m last year, compared to €417m in 2007 and €292m in 2006. This year, the bill is expected to fall because of the Government's decision to cut the payment from €1,104 to €996. (Source: Irish Independent)