Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has put forward plans to force those seeking international protection to contribute towards their housing costs, if they are in employment. The Cabinet sub-committee on migration considered the plans on Monday November 3, which involve a means-tested system containing nine bands.

The lower end of the scale would see those earning between €97.01 and €150 per week paying €15 at the end of every seven days. Those being paid €600 or more per week would be required to give €238 towards housing costs. That amounts to almost 40% of income, significantly more than the already high 30% of income that is the median percentage paid by other Irish workers. Adult asylum seekers who are not working receive a paltry €38.80 per week. Children receive €29.80.

Asylum seekers asked to pay up for housing costs despite inconsistent employment

Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council, a charity providing support to refugees, was not opposed to the new rules in principle, but stressed the need to make sure all factors are considered when setting the scales for the amount paid. He told the Journal about the particular circumstances typically encountered by those in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) housing*:*

A third of the population in IPAS is children, so children living in or near to poverty, people who are working in, through our experience, are often falling in and out of employment. It tends not to be employment of a long duration.

There’s also no child benefit for people living in Direct Provision and IPAS accommodation so people are living in very difficult circumstances.

So as I say, if in long term, appropriate good employment, and they fall above that threshold being stated, then I think people will be happy to contribute. But let’s not forget as well that people are living, particularly children living… near to or in poverty.

There’s also the additional factor that those fleeing danger abroad will have departed with very few possessions, and are rebuilding their lives from scratch. In such cases any additional money taken away imposes a greater cost than on someone not beginning from square one.

Those seeking international protection are entitled to work if they are able to secure a Labour Market Access Permission. According to the Department of Justice’s information booklet on the topic, applicants are told they can apply if:

1. You are an international protection applicant in Ireland; and
2. You have been waiting at least 5 months for your first instance recommendation; and
3. You are cooperating with the international protection process.

Ukrainian refugees also in the firing line

A “first instance recommendation” refers to the initial decision made by an international protection officer when assessing a claim for protection. Anyone who is rejected at this stage is forbidden from working even while potentially going through a lengthy appeals process.

This aspect of the rules around work for protection applicants is harsher than that in Britain, for example. While asylum seekers there must wait for 12 months before they have the possibility of working legally, they are at least permitted to do so while their appeals process is still ongoing. The government may also refuse citizenship to those in IPAS accommodation who end up in arrears on their housing contributions. If agreement to proceed with the plans is reached, they will likely take around a year to implement.

One measure already agreed is a scheme to make life harder for Ukrainian refugees. Proposals from O’Callaghan have been accepted by the sub-committee, meaning those fleeing the war against Russia will only be allowed to stay in IPAS facilities for 30 days rather than the previous 90. 80,000 Ukrainians are currently in Ireland, but the large influx since 2022 doesn’t absolve Ireland of its obligation to treat them humanely.

National Coordinator of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum Brian Killoran was scathing in his condemnation of the decision, saying:

This is an abhorrently short sighted and counterproductive move – 90 days is the least practical amount of time an individual or family needs to sort themselves out upon arrival.

Flee from war, then get turfed out on to the Dublin streets

Speaking before the final decision, Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD also expressed concerns:

To suggest that Ukrainian refugees could be expected to find alternative accommodation within just 30 days is simply not realistic. Where is the Government’s plan for housing Ukrainian arrivals? They cannot continue to make this up on the hoof.

We have been here before with tents along the canal in Dublin. If the Minister does this without any forward planning, then we will end up again with people forced into rough sleeping.

Tent cities have been a feature of Dublin streets in recent years, with government failure to properly house asylum seekers leaving them exposed not just to the elements, but cruel attacks from the far-right. Anti-immigrant sentiment is so out of control that even IPAS accommodation isn’t safe, however, as proven by a horrifying weekend attack at one such premises in Drogheda, now being treated as attempted murder. An Garda Síochána have now released CCTV footage showing the perpetrator breaking into the house, spilling petrol and setting it alight.

Sinéad Gibney TD of the Social Democrats rightly expressed horror at the timing of the punitive measures against those seeking protection, saying it was “shocking” that this is:

…the first item the Government is willing to discuss, in this whole area is payment from IPAS applicants.

For their part, Sinn Féin fixated on petty penny-pinching, with Matt Carthy backing the new measures and even going one further to urge a further race to the bottom in reducing payments given as part of the Ukrainian Accommodation Recognition Payment. This is a subsidy given by the government to assist families with costs associated with housing arrivals from Ukraine.

Just like tax, refugee policy is another race to the bottom

As Irish people continue to struggle financially, one would hope that a government sitting on a vast surplus would seek to create a tide of support to lift all figurative boats sailing on choppy waters, be their occupants native-born or otherwise. That huge sum of reserve capital is of course the product of Ireland’s other great race to the bottom – the low corporation tax that sees the nation debase itself before mostly US corporations.

Instead of looking to improve lives across the board, they’re falling back on the standard protocol of ruling classes across much of the Western world – an attempt to placate impoverished citizens by saying “yes, things are going to get worse for you, but don’t worry, we’ll make them even worse for somebody else.” That scapegoat continues to be some the world’s most vulnerable people, fleeing war and persecution, carrying trauma and then not even being granted what ought to be considered a fundamental human right – safe housing.

An alternative model is offered by Poland, that has successfully integrated Ukrainians into its economy, adding a massive 2.7% to its GDP. Ireland’s cynical political class clearly views immigrants as being most useful as a punching bag to distract from their own failures and crimes, however. Amidst a rising far-right increasingly using brazen acts of violence, betting on controlling the pressure cooker indefinitely seems a deeply irresponsible decision.

Featured image via the Canary

By Robert Freeman

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