Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 28 Feb 2001

Vol. 531 No. 4

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Alan Shatter

Question:

191 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the number of asylum seekers in receipt of direct provision from each health board; and the number of asylum seekers who are in receipt of full payments pursuant to the supplementary welfare allowance scheme and not in receipt of direct provision. [6262/01]

Alan Shatter

Question:

192 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the guidelines which have been furnished by him to health boards for use by supplementary welfare officers in administering the supplementary welfare allowance scheme and with regard to the making of direct provision for asylum seekers as a substitute for paying supplementary welfare allowance; and the statutory basis upon which direct provision is made. [6263/01]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 and 192 together.

The income maintenance needs of asylum seekers are met for the most part by the health boards who administer the supplementary welfare allowance scheme on behalf of my Department. The scheme provides entitlement to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. Payment is made in accordance with the relevant social welfare legislation as long as the person is resident in the State.

Where a person has access to some resources either in cash or in kind this is taken into account in determining entitlement to Social Welfare Allowance. This occurs in the case of asylum seekers who are being provided with full board accommodation under the direct provision system. This is accordance with part 111 of the Third Schedule of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act which states that the value of any benefit and privilege should be assessed in determining the rate of Social Welfare Allowance payable in any individual case.

Direct provision was introduced on 10 April 2000 on foot of a Government decision taken in September 1998 that the basic needs of asylum seekers should be met in that way. It is operated by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on foot of a further Government decision taken in November 1998. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has not introduced legislation to give a statutory basis to these Government decisions.

Guidance was issued to the health boards in April 2000 on the implications of the introduction of direct provision for the social welfare allowance scheme. The guidance included a recommendation that a reduced rate of social welfare allowance should be payable in such cases to take account of the fact that the basic needs of people in direct provision were already being met. The recommended rate of payment was £15 per week for an adult and £7.50 per week for a child. The guidance also recommended that rent supplements were not payable except in exceptional circumstances as accommodation was already being provided and that exceptional needs payments should be made where appropriate.

Further guidance was given in May 2000 in relation to issues that had arisen since the introduction of direct provision mainly concerning the entitlements of those people who had either refused or left direct provision. The guidance recommended that if a person either refused or left direct provision without clear justification they are only entitled to the payment that would apply if they had availed of the direct provision offered to them, £15 per week for an adult or £7.50 per week for a child. This guidance also detailed possible circumstances which the boards may treat as exceptional cases.

Accordingly, where a person in direct provision receives all meals and has access to other facilities such as laundry and leisure areas the recommended weekly allowance is £15 per adult and £7.50 per child. These rates are currently under review by a working group which I established to examine certain issues related to the assessment of need for social welfare allowance purposes.

Asylum seekers who have not been provided with full board accommodation in direct provision and who have no other means qualify for the full standard rate of weekly social welfare allowance. This amounts to £76 per week for a single adult, £123 per week for a couple and £13.20 per week for a dependent child. Asylum seekers who arrived in the State prior to the introduction of direct provision and who live in private rented accommodation qualify for rent supplement on the same basis as other recipients.

There are currently 8,598 supplementary welfare allowance claims in respect of over 14,000 asylum seekers. Of these just over 2,700 claims covering almost 4,200 people are in respect of people in direct provision. A breakdown of asylum seekers by health board area is set out in the following tabular statement.

Number of asylum seekers in direct provision and the number outside of direct provision by health board area based on numbers at 16 February 2001.

Health Board Area	Direct provision	Non Direct provision
ERHA	824	8,131
MHB	495	88
MWHB	362	206
NEHB	499	468
NWHB	127	0
SEHB	50	459
SHB	1,038	440
WHB	477	207
Total	4,172	9,999