A new study by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed a significant rise in the number of International Protection applicants joining the workforce, reports RTE.
The report examined the demographics, employment activity, and social welfare usage among those receiving the Daily Expense Allowance (DEA), reports RTE.
This allowance is a welfare payment available only to International Protection applicants residing in, or awaiting placement in, accommodation provided by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS).
The CSO found that 77% of all new DEA recipients in 2022 had engaged in employment by 2024, reports RTE.
Applicants for International Protection can work if they hold a Labour Market Access permit, which is available only after they have been in Ireland for a minimum of six months.
This eligibility period used to be nine months before being shortened in 2021.
“This resulting time lag was clearly evident in the data we explored, as the percentage of applicants who entered the labour market increased dramatically in the years after their first year of DEA commencement,” the CSO said, reports RTE.
Looking at gender differences, 83% of male and 65% of female 2022 DEA recipients had employment activity.
Those aged between 25 and 44 recorded the highest levels of employment.
The analysis covered DEA beneficiaries across the years 2016 to 2024, reports RTE.
In 2022, for the first time, the number of new DEA recipients surpassed 10,000, reaching 11,750.
This figure declined slightly to 10,252 in 2023, before rising again to 17,250 in 2024.
Men consistently made up a larger share of DEA recipients than women in every year analysed, reports RTE.
In 2024, nearly half of all DEA recipients were aged between 25 and 44.
Countries with more than 1,000 new recipients of the DEA in 2024 included Nigeria, Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan.
In previous years, Algeria surpassed that threshold in both 2022 and 2023, while Georgia did so in 2022, reports RTE.
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