Asylum seeker contribution proposals must be prioritised as a matter of urgency

Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has said there is a “bewildering lack of urgency surrounding Government proposals to seek an accommodation contribution charge from employed and self-employed asylum seekers earning up to €600 per week.”

The TD was speaking following comments from Minister of State for Migration Colm Brophy to the Sunday Independent newspaper.

Minister Brophy indicated that thousands of asylum-seekers could be required to pay up to €238 a week for their accommodation in international protection centres under proposals being considered by Government as part of its efforts to recoup accommodation costs which exceeded €1bn in 2024:

Deputy Nolan first exposed the complete absence of a contribution model through a series of parliamentary questions beginning in April 2024:

“We keep hearing from various Government ministers, including minister Brophy that this issue is a “key priority” but here we are a full 7 years on from the 2018 statutory instrument that outlined the financial contributions that employed or self-employed IPAS residents shall make once their income reaches or exceeds a certain threshold and a full 16 months on since I exposed the issue yet again through my PQ’s.”

“We have a clear model for the calculation of contribution to cost of relevant accommodation reception costs in place. What we do not have is the political will to give this issue the kind of drastic moral and financial urgency that it demands.”

“We cannot go on paying out in excess of €1billon annually for IPAS accommodation costs. That is economic madness.”

“It is also worth recalling that anyone who is on HAP for instance must contribute toward their accommodation costs; yet working asylum seekers do not. We need to ask why this level of discrimination and disparity has been allowed to persist for so long.”