A senior Department of Justice official strongly disagreed with the proposed increase to direct provision payments in last year’s budget, documents show. The weekly allowance for asylum seekers in direct provision rose to €38.80 for adults and €29.80 for children in March 2019 following the recommendation of the 2015 McMahon working group report. However, documents released under freedom of information to UCD academic Dr Liam Thornton, and shared with The Irish Times, reveal a senior official from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) was unhappy to see payments for asylum seekers increase. The following year former tánaiste Joan Burton announced the child payment would increase to €15.60, the first rise since 1999. According to Dr Thornton, the Department of Justice has always been “exceptionally cautious” about improving conditions for asylum seekers.

Source: The Irish Times November 19, 2019 06:00 UTC