Proposed IPAS centre in Wexford village should be subject to environmental inspection – ‘there's no mains there, you're dealing with septic tanks'
With cathaoirleach of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD), Councillor Jim Codd, suggesting that his colleagues' sudden interest in the environment masked darker, more grave, concerns, it was left to Cllrs Ger Carthy and Lisa McDonald to defend their respective positions.
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The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
Debunked: Asylum seekers are not exempt from income tax for a year after they are allowed to work
WHILE SOME ASYLUM seekers are entitled to work in Ireland while waiting for a decision on their application, it is not true that they enjoy a 'tax-free year' while doing so. The claim, which was shared in a recruitment video for an anti-immigration group, appears to be a misunderstanding of a plan to charge working asylum seekers that are in accommodation provided through the International Protection Accommodation Scheme (IPAS). The claim was shared in a video featuring a man wearing a 'MÉGA'cap, which stands for Make Éire Great Again — a slogan used by some Irish fans of Donald Trump. Shouting at a crowd, he talks about migrants who want to 'impose their sharia law' and says Irish people now slaves. 'Jim O'Callaghan, not three months ago, came out on RTÉ — I only watch it to see what I'm catching him out on — but he came out and said some IPAS residents are currently employed. They may be asked to contribute to society in a year's time. Where's my tax-free year? I have to pay through the nose for everything.' The post containing the speech is a recruitment video for anti-immigration group Síol na hÉireann. It is unclear if the man in the video has a connection with Síol na hÉireann, which has previously been investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority for using footage of assaults in its recruitment material. The Journal has previously debunked posts by this group, including multiple false claims about black people attacking white people in Ireland. As of writing, one version of the video have been viewed more than 232,300 times on Facebook, and more than 22,000 times on X. Both were posted on 10 August. The claim made in the video is said to stem from an appearance by Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan on RTÉ. The Journal was unable to find an appearance matching the description, and a spokesperson from O'Callaghan's office said that they were unfamiliar with what the man in the video was speaking about. It seems likely that the video confuses O'Callaghan with Colm Brophy, who is a Minister of State at the Department of Justice. Advertisement Brophy has spoken publicly about plans to charge working asylum seekers for their accommodation. (O'Callaghan's office confirmed he supports the plan). However, these plans have little resemblance to what was being talked about in the video other than some shared terminology, such as uses of the term 'contribution'. The government's plans are not about changing how IPAS applicants are taxed. Rather, these plans involve charging asylum seekers who are entitled to work for accommodation in IPAS centres as a way to reduce the cost of the international protection system to the government. Currently, asylum seekers in Ireland can be granted permission to work if they have been waiting more than 6 months for the first decision on their application. The Sunday Independent reported that one proposal says that 11,400 people in IPAS centres are estimated to have an income and would be eligible to pay the fee. So, what has this got to do with a 'tax-free year'? Not much, it appears. 'Applicants for international protection are subject to the same system of taxation as all other people resident in Ireland,' a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told The Journal. 'There is no exemption from income tax for applicants under the International Protection Accommodation Scheme who have an entitlement to work in Ireland,' Revenue said in response to the online claims. Claims that asylum seekers or other foreign nationals have preferential treatment in Ireland are commonly spread by anti-immigration groups. Thai year, The Journal has previously debunked claims that immigrants get shorter prison sentences than Irish citizens; that traffic rules do not apply to non-Irish people; that the Irish government pays Ukrainians to repair their cars or has spent €200,000 per car to help isolated Ukrainians; and that taxes go toward subsidising foreign-owned businesses . Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Post
6 days ago
- Irish Post
Asylum seekers who get DEA from the government increased by thousands last year
IRELAND'S asylum system is under increasing pressure as the number of people receiving daily allowance payments continues to rise. According to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), over 18,500 people sought asylum in Ireland in 2024. This surge is reflected in the sharp rise in the number of recipients of the Daily Expense Allowance (DEA), with 7,000 more people receiving the payment compared to 2023. The DEA is a payment made each week consisting of €38.80 for adults and €29.80 for children, aimed at helping those living in Direct Provision or International Protection Accommodation Services to pay for living costs. However, people who have received permission to work or have enough income do not qualify for the payment. Demographically, the profile of those receiving the DEA shows that 48% were aged between 25 and 44, with almost a quarter of recipients in 2024 under the age of 15. A gender imbalance persists, with men making up nearly two-thirds of recipients each year from 2022 to 2024. The CSO notes that in the last decade, the percentage of women benefiting from the allowance remained consistently lower than that of men. New beneficiaries in 2024 came primarily from Nigeria, Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan, while in previous years, Algeria and Georgia each had over 1,000 people receiving support. As of the most recent IPAS figures, Nigeria tops the list of countries with the most people in accommodation, followed by Georgia, Algeria, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South Africa. The financial cost of accommodating asylum seekers has risen dramatically. In 2024, for the first time, annual state expenditure on International Protection accommodation exceeded €1 billion, marking a 54% increase from the €651 million spent in 2023. Minister for Integration Norma Foley confirmed that the average daily cost per asylum seeker reached €84 in 2024, up from €76.80 the previous year. She explained that costs fluctuate depending on the type and availability of accommodation, as well as the number of residents. Since the start of 2019, Ireland has spent €2.5 billion on housing those seeking protection, with much of that cost concentrated in recent years. In 2021, IPAS was accommodating just over 7,000 individuals. Today, it houses almost 33,000, including approximately 9,000 children with their families. Despite the growing strain on the system, there are signs of successful integration into the workforce. The CSO found that 77% of those who received the DEA for the first time in 2022 had engaged in employment by 2024. This improvement coincided with the reduction of the mandatory waiting period to access the labour market, which was shortened from nine months to six in 2021. Still, a gender gap in employment activity remains. More than 75% of men had employment activity in 2021, 2022, and 2023, while the figure for women ranged from 53% to 65% during the same period. The CSO highlighted a noticeable time lag between DEA receipt and entry into the labour market. Alongside the state's support for international protection applicants, Ireland also manages a separate programme for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, primarily aimed at housing Ukrainians. Since 2022, €239 million has been paid to accommodation providers for housing nearly 50,000 individuals under the EU Temporary Protection Directive. The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) provides €800 per month to hosts, with over 15,500 hosts currently housing almost 36,000 people in more than 19,000 accommodations across the country. Dublin, Cork, Donegal, Mayo, and Galway have the highest numbers of ARP recipients. Plans are underway to develop more state-owned or publicly managed facilities in an effort to reduce this dependency. Although the number of new asylum seekers in 2025 has decreased by around 40% compared to 2024, the long-term demand on Ireland's public services and integration infrastructure remains a concern. See More: Asylum Seeker, DEA, Immigration
Irish Examiner
11-08-2025
- Irish Examiner
Children facing new school year uprooted from only home they've known
In a few weeks' time, children across Ireland will return to school after the summer break. It's a time of excitement and nervousness, but marked by the familiarity of friends, teachers, and routines. However, for dozens of children in the international protection system, this school year will begin in turmoil. Over the summer, families who have spent years rebuilding their lives in direct provision centres around the country have been told to pack up and leave — some with just a few days' notice. They are being relocated to emergency accommodation far from the communities where their children have grown up, gone to school, formed friendships, and made home. These forced moves are tearing families apart and destabilising the very children who most need security and consistency. This is a chaotic response to the housing needs of asylum seekers. Government policy is not considering the human cost and fallout on young lives in particular. These are young lives that have already faced so much. Conflict, trauma, and persecution drive hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes to seek safety every year. The decision to leave is rarely voluntary. It is about survival, often fraught with pain and danger and made at great personal risk. The impact on children is immense Those who seek asylum do so under international law, and they have rights: The right to protection, the right not to be returned to danger, and the right for their children to grow up in safety and dignity. The options for those being told to leave the direct provision centres, where they have found some measure of stability, are limited: Either move into emergency accommodation, which is often lacking the required safeguards for children and miles away from schools, communities, and vital support networks they have spent years building; or rent on the private market, an almost impossible option where they will face not just the financial barriers and accommodation shortages faced by the wider population, but racism and socio-economic discrimination. ActionAid Ireland is supporting several of these families whose lives have been turned upside down. They include two sisters from West Africa who are living in international protection accommodation services (IPAS) accommodation in the south-east of the country, and who have been told they must now leave. Each sister has a five-year-old son. One has been offered emergency accommodation at the other end of the country, in Donegal, and the other in Mayo. Their lives, and that of their children, are being pulled in opposite directions. Lost friends Neither mother has slept properly since hearing the news. One spoke of her son, the first up every morning in his direct provision centre, eager to go to school. Having started junior infants this year, he cannot understand why all his new friends will soon be lost or why he will no longer live near his cousin — the only family he has known in Ireland. The prospect of leaving their communities is not just distressing for these children, it is destabilising. The Ombudsman for Children has warned repeatedly that this practice is harmful. He has also stated that in the first-place emergency accommodation is not appropriate for children. A recent Health Information and Equality Authority review revealed serious cracks in governance and safeguarding in these centres, raising concerns about the safety and wellbeing of the most vulnerable residents. Yet the relocations continue. Of the nearly 33,000 people currently living in IPAS accommodation, about 5,300 have been granted legal status to remain in Ireland and must leave IPAS accommodation. In theory, they are 'free' to access the full range of housing supports available to Irish residents In reality, they are being pushed out of relative stability into a housing market in deep crisis where people all over Ireland are finding it impossible to get affordable rentals. Challenges for those forced to leave direct provision are magnified by racism, which frequently meets them at the doors of rental viewings. It is completely unrealistic to expect these families to succeed in securing private housing without significant support. Risk of homelessness The policy to move people from direct provision risks funnelling children and families straight into homelessness. These children are real people; they are not statistics. They are losing teachers who know their needs, coaches who welcomed them to local sports teams, and neighbours and friends who made them feel part of a community. The Government has a choice here: It can continue to pursue a policy that uproots families and undermines their stability, or it can listen to the voices of children's rights advocates, NGOs, and affected families calling for a child-first and human rights approach. Such an approach would prioritise keeping children in their schools and communities. It would strengthen and empower local councils to better support integration efforts, and ensure appropriate safeguarding measures in any accommodation provided. Above all, it would recognise that the needs of children must take precedence. The Constitution pledges to 'cherish all the children of the nation equally'. Article 42A specifically affirms children's natural and imprescriptible rights and the State's duty to uphold these rights. Children have the right for their best interests to be of paramount consideration where the State seeks to intervene to protect their safety and welfare In the Dáil recently, the Taoiseach stated: 'My fundamental motivation right through my political life has been that you do not leave the child that's furthest behind, behind.' The reality is children in this country who are furthest behind are being left behind. They include the two five-year-old cousins who are amongst the families that ActionAid Ireland is supporting. Because their families have been granted legal status to remain in this country, they have to leave their direct provision accommodation and will be uprooted from the only home they have known. The Government must respond with compassion and urgency, with human rights to the fore. This is the way we can ensure, truly, no child is left behind. This is how we make back to school what it should be — a nervous but smooth transition to the school term, not a disruptive move across the country. Cillian Quinn is the policy and programmes co-ordinator with ActionAid Ireland
