Payments to 5,000 asylum seekers receiving daily expenses have stopped following means tests, the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has said. She said on Monday that her department continued to conduct means tests “on a weekly basis”.
The Minister also defended her timing in relation to introducing the measure, and said once the issue was brought to her attention she “immediately signed the regulations”.
Last month an income assessment was introduced for the daily expenses allowance amid concern in Government that some asylum seekers in employment were still claiming it.
If an international protection applicant lives in accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) or is on a waiting list to move into accommodation while awaiting a decision on an application they are entitled to a daily expenses allowance of €38.80 per week for an adult and €29.80 per week for a child.
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An increased rate of €113.80 per week for an adult applies where a person is unaccommodated and is on a waiting list for IPAS accommodation.
Legislation had been 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, and to reduce or terminate the allowance to reflect any increase in means. Defending the delay, Ms Humphreys said “a lot of things were happening in social protection” over recent years, referencing the Covid-19 pandemic and the influx of Ukrainian refugees.
“When it was brought to my attention I immediately signed the regulations and since then 5000 payments have stopped and we continue to means test,” she said.
The Fine Gael deputy leader said she did not have the figures to hand in terms of how much the department had lost since 2018. She was speaking at an event at Connolly Station, Dublin, where she met the first people to avail of the new free travel pass for people medically unable to drive. From this week the free travel scheme is being extended to people who have never been able to drive due to a disability, and to drivers who have a licence and are medically certified as not fit to drive for a period of 12 months or longer.
Separately, Ms Humphreys said she was not “blindsided” regarding a Government decision to direct €14 million from the Department of Social Protection towards TV licences as part of the RTÉ bailout. The Minister said the funding would go towards free TV licences for older people, an increasing demographic, and would be part of Budget 2025. She said reports that she was surprised by the move was “all speculation”.
“I am well fit to stand up for myself and I wasn’t blindsided,” she said. “I made my case for my Department of Social Protection and I’m not afraid to stand up to make sure that the pensioners of this country get the free TV licence.”
Ms Humphreys also said while pay-related maternity benefit would not be introduced under the current Government, it was “certainly something we should be aspiring to” as part of the next government.
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