How Ireland has started means testing asylum seekers - 5000 have been overpaid benefits
The Minister for Social Protection said she did not have a figure for how much money had been lost by not means testing payments
PA/ Getty
Ireland has started carrying out a means test for the daily expenses allowance for asylum seekers in State-provided accommodation.
It comes as 5,000 asylum seekers receiving daily expenses have stopped following means testing, according to the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys.
Humphreys said on Monday that her department would now continue to conduct the test "on a weekly basis."
In June, the income assessment was introduced amid concerns that asylum seekers in employment were still claiming from it.
Watch: Humphreys defends delay over means testing asylum allowance
Prior to the testing, applicants who lived in accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) or were on a waiting list to move into accommodation had been entitled to an allowance of up to €38.80 (£32.69) per week for an adult and €29.80 (£25.11) per week for a child, but it is now dependent on their income.
The rate is reduced for those earning more than €60 (£50.56) per week and entirely cut for anyone earning more than €125 (£105.33).
Speaking to reporters at Connolly Station in Dublin, Humphreys defended the delay over means testing asylum seekers saying there was a "lot going on."
Legislation was passed in 2018 requiring the Department of Social Protection to conduct a means assessment after a claimant has been in receipt of income for at least 12 weeks.
Humphreys said: "Since 2020, there’s a lot of things that have happened in the Department of Social Protection.
"We were in the middle of the pandemic – the pandemic unemployment payment, there was the war in Ukraine."
Humphreys noted, however, that she "immediately signed the regulation" when it was brought to her attention in April following an inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
She added: “Since then, 5,000 payments have been stopped and we will continue to means test from now.”
When asked how much money was lost by not means testing payments before this year, the social protection minister said she did not have a figure to hand.
The news comes amid a rise of anti-immigrant protests in Ireland demonstrating against migrant housing plans.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said 5000 payments have been stopped since means testing started PALATEST FROM MEMBERSHIP:
Over the past three months, protests have been taking place outside Coolock's Crown Paints factory after locals opposed its alleged repurposing into a site for asylum seekers.
Tensions around Ireland's overwhelmed refugee systems are at the top of the political agenda and pose challenges for all parties ahead of the country's election.
Humphreys, who has been Social Protection Minister since 2020, announced the means test for the allowance only a number of weeks before the local and European elections.
Earlier this month, Ireland's main opposition party, Sinn Féin, toughened its immigration stance proposing an audit of local services in any area earmarked for an asylum reception.