Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 249

Absence from State or imprisonment

Section 249 sets out the circumstances in which a person is disqualified from receiving social welfare benefits as a result of absence from the State or imprisonment.

• Benefits under Part 2 (contributory benefits) are not payable while the claimant or their qualified adult is absent from the State or undergoing imprisonment or legal detention, unless regulations provide otherwise.
• Means-tested allowances — jobseeker's allowance, pre-retirement allowance, supplementary welfare allowance, disability allowance and farm assist — are not payable while the claimant or their qualified adult is residing outside the State or in legal custody; separate residence-based disqualifications apply to State pension (non-contributory), blind pension, bereaved partner's (non-contributory) pension, one-parent family payment, deserted wife's allowance, prisoner's wife's allowance, domiciliary care allowance and child benefit.
• Detention for psychiatric or mental health treatment under specified legislation (including the Mental Health Act 2001 and the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006) does not count as legal detention for the purposes of disability allowance entitlement.
• A person who moves to Northern Ireland may continue to receive State pension (non-contributory) or blind pension for up to five years, provided they were in receipt of the pension immediately before taking up residence there and do not receive an equivalent payment from the Northern Ireland authorities.