PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT has today launched a Bill that would give people seeking asylum the right to work immediately in Ireland while their asylum application is being processed. 

The International Protection Right to Work Bill 2024, is supported by Masi, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland.

As it stands, a person seeking asylum in Ireland cannot apply for the right to work until they have been here for five months.

However, Bulelani Mfaco a spokesperson for Masi, made the point that in reality this can often take up to nine months due to delays with processing. 

Speaking at the launch in Dublin today, Mfaco argued that a more humane system is needed and said asylum seekers are not currently able to cater for all their basic needs without the ability to work. 

A person seeking asylum in Ireland is currently provided with €38.80 a week from the state, while a child is provided with €29.80.

The latest figures show that 2,462 people seeking asylum in Ireland are currently without accommodation in the state. These adult individuals are given a higher rate of €113.80 a week by the state.

“You can’t actually live on €113 anywhere in Dublin. You can’t find somewhere to live with that amount, and you can’t cater for all your basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing,” Mfaco said. 

Mfaco argued that the People Before Profit Bill would create a more humane system, that would treat people with dignity and better secure the rights of children in particular by allowing their parents to work. 

“We want a state ideally that cherishes all children and does not draw a distinction on the basis of where the child comes from or their immigration status in the country,” he said. 

Push factors

Mfaco and Murphy both rejected the idea that removing barriers that give people the right to work would be a “pull-factor” for more people to seek asylum in Ireland.

“All the evidence suggests that people seeking asylum are driven by push rather than pull factors,” Murphy said. 

Murphy added that asylum seekers are a resource for the state, rather than a burden and should be allowed contribute to the state. 

“These people would be adding to our society in all the different ways they can through working, they would be paying tax,” Murphy said. 

Mfaco also made the point that data from the United Nations Refugee Agency shows that Ireland, and other European countries, host significantly less asylum seekers and refugees than other countries, with most people forced to flee their home countries seeking refugee in neighbouring countries in the Global South. 

In 2020, the Catherine Day report on Ireland’s international protection system recommended that restrictions on the right to work be removed for those seeking asylum after they have been in the state for three months.

Mfaco said this is a simple thing the Government could do “today or tomorrow” if they had the will. 

“It’s very soul destroying to see other people who live in the same direct provision center as you, you might be sharing a room with them, waking up and going to work, and you are reminded every day that you are not allowed to work,” Mfaco said.

He added that in addition to the five month prohibition on work, asylum seekers face other barriers to entering the workforce – including a lack of transport connections at many rural direction provision centres. 

Murphy said that the current international protection system in Ireland is characterised by “performative cruelty” from the Government.

He added that by allowing people seeking asylum the right to work it would also help break down barriers and fear and result in real integration within communities.