Over 11,300 asylum seekers get less than €40 a week

The current weekly rates are €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child.

Over 9,300 adult asylum-seekers get only €5.50 a day in social welfare from the state.

A further 2,000 children, who live in direct provision, get the equivalent of €4.25 a day.

The Department of Social Protection administers the Daily Expenses Allowance, which is paid to asylum seekers who live in direct provision centres.

The current weekly rates are €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child.

At the end of December, this payment was being made for 9,303 adults and 2,005 children.

The rates are much lower than the job seeker's allowance payment which is €220 a week.

Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuiv said he thinks the current rate is too low but accepted the principle that recipients should not get the full rate.

"If you pay the full rate plus free boarding then the logic of that situation is that you would be better off in direct provision than somebody who is in receipt of jobseekers' allowance and is living here all their life," he said.

"The reality in their case is that they have to pay for the food and they have to pay for their board."

The Daily Expenses Allowance does not apply to those fleeing the war in Ukraine who are entitled to the full rates of social welfare.