Maternity Benefit

Saint Sonner

Hi
My Wife is due at end of September. We rent in Dublin but are originally from Tyrone. We work in good jobs for last 4 years here in South and have started our journey with Combe Hospital. However my wife has said that she is considering registering with her Doctor in the North basically because when it comes close to the time she would prefer to be off work and waiting for the event surrounded by her family instead of sitting in Dublin on her own whilst i'm out working - I will remain working in Dublin and she will return to work in Dublin eventually.
However I was wondering will she still be entitled to State Maternity Benefit if the child was born in a hospital in the North or does it just matter where your address is i.e. The south.
Any advice would be great.

jlm29

Your maternity benefit is applied for and approved before baby is born, so she will still have a ROI address. If you’ll still be living in the roi, would she not continue to use that address for everything other than registering with the doctor anyhow?

Saint Sonner

Thanks for the reply - 

Yes she will but if she has it in NI and then returns to her Doctor in Dublin will that be okay has she done something wrong and won't get maternity benefit?

jlm29

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Thanks for the reply - 

Yes she will but if she has it in NI and then returns to her Doctor in Dublin will that be okay has she done something wrong and won't get maternity benefit?

I’d have thought they were separate issues really. If she’s a tax and prsi paying citizen, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t get maternity benefit, regardless of where baby is born. And as I say, that’s all assessed before the birth.
If she was up home for a weekend and unexpectedly went into labour, she couldn’t be expected to travel to Dublin to have the baby!
If you have any worries you could give the citizens information a ring.

Saint Sonner

Yeah that's true - Thanks for the info and I think I will give them a ring ok.