Asylum seekers and refugees will get "nothing more" than they are legally entitled to in Ireland, according to the Minister for Social Protection.

It comes as the number of people seeking asylum here in the first four months of the year has almost doubled compared to this time last year.

Ireland welcomed an average of 87 asylum seekers per day in the seven days ending on May 5th - the highest number of weekly arrivals this year.

A social welfare office on Kings Inn Street in Dublin. Image: noel bennett / Alamy Stock Photo

Minister Heather Humphreys said a review of welfare supports for those seeking international protection is underway.

“We want to make sure that we’re complying with our international and our legal obligations and that is the ceiling,” she said.

“We want to make sure we’re giving people what they’re entitled to, nothing more, nothing less.

“The Department of Justice, the Department of Integration, and my own department are having discussions today and we will be bringing a memo to Cabinet tomorrow.”

Current entitlements

Asylum seekers are currently entitled to €38.80 a week per adult and €29.80 a week per child.

Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Ireland since March 14th receive the same rate.

Those who arrived before that date, around 100,000 people, are still entitled to the €220 per week jobseekers’ allowance.

Main image: Minister Heather Humphreys speaks at a Budget 2022 press conference in October 2021. Picture by: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie