FLAC: Social Welfare and the Protection Regime This is a
contribution from Saoirse Brady, FLAC’s Policy & Campaigns
Officer. Asylum seekers and other persons seeking protection
often appear to be excluded from Irish society. In fact, the
Irish government has taken a number of steps to ensure that
persons within the asylum and humanitarian leave to remain
process cannot easily integrate into Irish society. By
introducing the policies of direct provision and dispersal, the
government has added to this sense of exclusion for individuals
seeking asylum or another form of protection. “Direct provision”
is the scheme whereby asylum seekers and people seeking other
forms of protection are given accommodation on a full-board
basis with all their basic needs apparently provided for
directly. Direct provision residents receive a weekly payment of
19.10 for an adult and 9.60 for a child, unchanged since its
introduction in 2001. The dispersal scheme ensures that
individuals who apply for asylum are dispatched to differe