Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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691. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost per annum to increase the weekly direct provision allowance to €188. [32161/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has opted in to the EU (recast) Reception Conditions Directive with effect from 30 June 2018. As a result, direct provision allowance is being renamed daily expenses allowance. The Government has provided over €5.6 million for the allowance in 2018. This payment is administered by my Department on behalf of the Department of Justice and Equality and is paid to applicants for international protection who live in the direct provision system where they are provided with full board accommodation and other facilities/services.

The allowance is currently paid at the rate of €21.60 per week per adult. There are approximately 3,700 adults residing in the system of direct provision in respect of whom the allowance is being paid.

It has been clarified with the Deputy that he is requesting the cost of increasing the allowance to the rate of jobseekers allowance which is €198 per week. The full-year cost, based on the current numbers, of increasing the weekly adult rate, for each adult, to €198 is approximately €34 million.

Under the jobseekers allowance scheme a claimant may receive an increase in respect of an adult dependant, usually their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant. This is paid at the rate of €131.40 per week. There are some 400 cases of daily expenses allowance which include payment for a second adult. The cost of increasing the allowance to the jobseekers allowance payment rates to reflect this family composition would be approximately €32.6 million.

Any increases to the rate of this allowance would have to be approved by Government and considered in a budgetary context.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.