Following the recent protests by asylum seekers to highlight their poor living conditions in the Department of Justice’s  Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) centres we thought we would show you what you can buy with spending money asylum seekers are entitled to.

The department provides every asylum seeker with accommodation as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner. Adults are then given a “personal allowance” of €19.10 per week, and each child receives €9.60 per week. Taking a family of two adults and two children as an example, they will receive a total of €57.40 each week in spending money.

Here is what groceries they can get from Superquinn and other expenses they might have during the week.

• 6 medium barn eggs – €0.99
• Breannans white pan sliced bread X2 – €2.90
• Superquinn 2 litre low fat milk X2 – €2.98
• Aquafresh toothpaste – €3.76
• 1kg of bananas – €1.39
• 15 pork sausages – €4.99
• 2 packets of streaky rashers – €3.00
• Avonmore fresh chicken soup (1kg) – €3.69
• 220g of Denny cooked ham – €2.99
• Transport – €15.00
• Entertainment and miscellaneous - €15.00

The total cost of these few expenses is €56.69. However, transport costs can vary with a single adult bus journey costing between €1.15 and €4.50. This can severely stretch the family’s budget if frequent travel is necessary.

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