Blanchardstown & Dublin 15 Citizens Information Centre
A service for everyone

Know your Rights: February 2011

Register of Electors

Q. I want to make sure that I can vote in the upcoming general election – how do I do this?

Every local authority in Ireland is responsible for compiling and publishing a list of voters in its area. This is called the Register of Electors or the Electoral Register. Anyone can inspect this Register and it is available in all local authority offices, post offices, Garda stations and public libraries. You can also check the Electoral Register online at checktheregister.ie.

The published Register contains voters’ names, addresses, polling stations and category of voter*. A new draft Register is compiled each year and is published on 1 November. To be eligible for inclusion in the Register of Electors, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old on the day the Register comes into force (15 February)
• Have been ordinarily resident in the State on 1 September in the year before the Register comes into force

If your name is not on the published Register of Electors, you can still apply to be included in a supplement to the Register using form RFA2. Forms are available online at checktheregister.ie and from local authorities, post offices and public libraries. You can make this application at any time. However, to be included in the supplement used in a forthcoming election, your application must be received by your local authority at least 15 days before polling day (Sundays, public holidays and Good Friday are not counted as days for this purpose). If you are on the register but have moved address from one Dáil constituency, or local electoral area, to another you must complete a Change of Address form (RFA3). This will also remove you from the register for your previous address.

*Your right to vote in Ireland depends on your citizenship:

• Irish citizens can vote in every election and referendum
• British citizens can vote in Dáil, European and local elections
• Other EU citizens can vote in European and local elections
• Non-EU citizens can vote in local elections only

Further information is available from your local Citizens Information Centre.

---

Child Benefit for multiple births

Q. I have four children. The last two are twins and I am confused about what Child Benefit payment I will get for them following the Budget. Are they both treated as the third child or are they treated separately?

The Budget reduced Child Benefit payments by €10 for all children and reduced the payment for the third child in a family by another €10.

In 2011 Child Benefit is paid at the monthly rate of €140 for the first and second child, €167 for the third child and €177 for the fourth and subsequent children. Child Benefit for twins is one and a half times the normal monthly rate for each child. This means that the rate for twins can vary depending on their position in the family. In your case since you have two children already, the twins are the third and fourth children in the family. Therefore the monthly payment for the twins is €250.50 (€167.00 x 1.5) and €265.50 (€177.00 x 1.5). If the twins were the only children in the family Child Benefit would be €210 (€140 x1.5) for each child. Child Benefit for triplets is paid at double the normal monthly rate for each child and the same principle applies. An extra grant of €635 per child is paid for all multiple births at birth, age 4 and age 12.

Further information is available from your local Citizens Information Centre.

---

Tús work placement scheme

Q. I’d like to apply for the new Tús community work placement scheme. What’s the procedure?

Schools can ask pupils for some types of payment. However, schools cannot operate charges, in any form, that are in effect mandatory fees. This would be contrary to the principle of not charging fees.

There is no application process for the scheme. People who are eligible to take part will be selected and contacted by their social welfare local office. However, there are only 5,000 places available in 2011 (in both urban and rural areas) so not everyone who is eligible will be asked to take part in the scheme. To be eligible you must:

• Have been continuously unemployed for at least 12 months and “signing on” full time and
• Have been receiving a jobseeker's payment (Jobseeker's Benefit or Jobseeker's Allowance) from the Department of Social Protection for at least 12 months and
• Be currently receiving Jobseeker's Allowance.

The scheme aims to benefit the community and participants will be asked to carry out a range of work in their communities. Participants are paid the equivalent of their social welfare payment and an additional €20 per week. Secondary benefits such as medical card and Rent Supplement are unlikely to change but participants are not automatically entitled to these benefits. Participants work for 19 ½ hours a week and placements last for 52 weeks (one year). Tús is managed by local development companies and údarás na Gaeltachta. The Department of Social Protection has overall responsibility for the scheme. Community and voluntary organisations with a work placement opportunity should register this with their local development company/údarás na Gaeltachta. They will then be required to submit a detailed work proposal. Under the National Employment Action Plan people getting Jobseeker’s Allowance are required to take up work opportunities. If you refuse the offer of a Tús work placement without good reason, you may have your social welfare payment reduced or terminated. If, following a refusal of a placement, your payment is reduced or terminated you may appeal this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals office within 21 days.

Further information is available from your local Citizens Information Centre.

---

Registering a civil partnership

Q.How do I and my same-sex partner register a civil partnership now that the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 has been signed into law?

The procedure is that you must first make an appointment with a Registrar to give notification of intention to enter into a civil partnership. This notification must be given at least three months before registration. Civil partnership registration must take place in the presence of two witnesses who are both over 18 years of age. You can simply register a new civil partnership. You do not need to have a civil partnership ceremony, unlike marriages which require a marriage ceremony. However civil partners may choose to have a ceremony and, if you do, the requirements are similar to marriage ceremonies. You must provide the following documents when giving notification:

• A passport as photographic identification (if this is not available, you must discuss this with the Registrar in advance)
• Birth certificate (must bear an apostille stamp if it is from outside Ireland)
• Proof of address
• PPS Number (where applicable)

Other documents are required if either person is divorced, widowed, has had a previous civil partnership dissolved or is a surviving civil partner. The Registrar will advise what is required in each case during the notification appointment. You also need to tell the Registrar the intended date of civil partnership; the names and dates of birth of the two witnesses, and the details of the proposed venue (if not held in a registry office the venue must be open to the public and approved by the Registrar). If you married or entered into a civil partnership abroad your relationship may be recognised as a civil partnership in Ireland provided certain criteria are met. You can find more detailed information on civil partnership registration on the General Register Office website: groireland.ie.

Further information is available from your local Citizens Information Centre.

---

• Contact us on
  0761 07 5040