What you can buy for €19.10...

ASYLUM seekers deserve to have their weekly state allowances more than trebled to €70, according to the Government’s advisory agency on racism.

A submission to the new government will next week call for the €19.10 allowance to be raised to €70.

Some asylum seekers have lived in state accommodation surviving on the budget for up to four years, according to the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, which yesterday called for the increase.

“There has been no increase in that allowance in terms of inflation as well since 2001.

“Given the numbers are so small, what about the fact that asylum seekers want to buy treats for their children or take a trip on a bus,” explained the committee’s director Philip Watt.

“What can you buy for less than €20 now? Even a few bus trips into town will take up your €20. At the very least it should be increased to €70 a week.”

The request would mean about an extra €11.5 million needed for asylum seekers annually.

If an increase in allowances is not accepted by the Government, asylum seekers should be given child allowances, the committee says. Asylum seekers also get an extra €9.60 for every child they have.

The Department of Justice however said last night there were no plans to increase the direct provision allowance for asylum seekers. Applicants were provided with full board, accommodation, essential services and occasionally once-off payments, said a department spokeswoman.