There has been great play in the last day or so around the apparently novel idea that IPAS residents should, or may, have to begin making a financial contribution to their state provided accommodation and upkeep.
Taoiseach Simon Harris, in what I assume he thought was some kind of toughing of the usual line, even it was couched in soft language, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland:
“Let’s bear in mind there’s people in this country who come here and seek international protection who do have a right to work and by the way we are very pleased they do work, and we thank them for the contribution they make to the Irish economy. I do think it’s fair though, that if you’re working and earning an income that you make some kind of contribution towards the services the state is providing.”
This being, of course a statement of the bleeding obvious for everyone else.
It is also a statement that echoes almost to the word the sentiments expressed by Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan back in May when she first exposed the fact that IPAS applicants were not being asked to make a single financial contribution of any kind to their accommodation costs if they were employed or self-employed and earned over €600+ per week.
Gript covered the issue here. She was able to do because Minister Roderic O’Gorman had confirmed this to her in a number of parliamentary questions.
Here is what she said at the time:
“It is clear to me, and I think it will be clear to most reasonable people that there is a level of preferential treatment being afforded here that is entirely unacceptable and indeed deeply frustrating.”
“The Statutory Instrument that governs this issue clearly provides for a contribution where an IPAS resident earns anything up to €600 plus per week from employment or self-employment. Yet the state is doing nothing to ask for even a minimal level of contribution toward incurred costs. Why is that and what message is it sending out?”
“Anyone who is on HAP for instance must make a contribution toward their accommodation costs, so why the disparity here especially when the state is actually providing the accommodation?”
The SI also clearly states that an IPAS applicant in accommodation “shall make the contribution specified.” If this is not happening then it clear to me that the regulations are being breached on a massive scale.”
“I will certainly be following this matter up. We must have fairness. We cannot allow the perception or indeed the reality of preferential treatment to take hold. If you are in this country as an IPAS applicant and you are employed with an income of €600+ per week, then I do not think it unreasonable that you should make a contribution toward whatever costs the State is bearing on your behalf,” concluded Deputy Nolan.
Statutory Instruments have been in place since 2018 clearly outlining the financial contributions that employed or self-employed IPAS residents ‘SHALL’ make once their income reaches or exceeds a certain threshold:
Calculation of Contribution to Cost of Relevant Reception Costs:
So lets stop taking people for fools please.
This does not require a decision “within a few short weeks,” as the Taoiseach said. The decision was already made and for good solid reason back in 2018 when our international protection system was not under the effective collapse that it is now.
It was just completely ignored in practice, like so much else in our international protection system, because, you know, ‘compassion’, or whatever.