A VIDEO ABOUT Somalians in Ireland contains an incorrect claim that people who have been given deportation orders are still able to collect social welfare payments.

“The regime do not carry out deportations,” anti-immigration activist Niall McConnell says to camera.

McConnell claims that instead, failed asylum seekers in Ireland “get letters in the post asking them to self-deport. ‘Can you please leave the country?’”

“The majority of them do not leave, and they are still entitled to their benefits,” he also says.

McConnell’s claim may give the impression that those who are subject to deportation orders can still get regular welfare payments like Jobseekers Allowance, but that is not the case.

Failed asylum seekers are explicitly no longer entitled to those “benefits” — a term that refers to social welfare allowances.

Nevertheless, the video making the claim has been viewed more than 13,000 times since it was posted to Facebook on 27 November.

The video ends with an appeal to sign up for a “gold membership” to Siol na hÉireann, an anti-immigrant group led by McConnell. According to the group’s website, membership costs €119 a year.

The Journal has previously debunked false claims spread by both McConnell and Síol na hÉireann.

The Department of Justice, which deals with asylum claims, and the Department of Social Protection, which is in charge of social welfare payments, both told The Journal that McConnell’s claim was wrong.

“This Department notifies the Department of Social Protection with details of persons who are subject to deportation orders,” the Department of Justice told The Journal.

“Such persons are not entitled to the daily expenses allowance paid to international protection applicants, or to other social welfare benefits.”

This was confirmed by the Department of Social Protection, which elaborated: “People who are subject to a deportation order are ineligible for social assistance payments. They do not satisfy the habitual residence condition, as they do not have an unqualified legal right of residence in the State.”

The Department also confirmed that this cut off also included the Daily Expenses Allowance paid to international protection applicants who reside in, or are waiting for, state-provided accommodation.

“Where a person has been refused international protection, their entitlement to the Daily Expense Allowance is stopped, as they can no longer be deemed an international protection applicant.”

The Department of Social Protection noted that there was one payment that some people who had been issued deportation orders could apply for. However, it would not apply to the people mentioned by McConnell, as it is conditional on them cooperating with the deportation process.

“A person may make an application for an Additional Needs Payment to meet essential expenses that they cannot meet from their own resources,” the Department said.

Such payments are intended to pay for food and other essential items.

“These payments can be made to somebody with a deportation order at the discretion of officers administering the scheme,” the Department said. “Such payments would only be made as a short-term measure, where the person is cooperating with the deportation process.”

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