Abstract

Only in recent years has Ireland had to deal with appreciable numbers of asylum seekers coming to her shores. The reception of asylum seekers awaiting determination of refugee claims has drastically altered in that period. From inclusion to exclusion has been the hallmark of the legal regulation of reception conditions for asylum seekers. Legal protection from the Irish courts in ensuring a degree socio-economic protection to asylum seekers is unlikely to be forthcoming. Traditional arguments on asylees rights as being ‘different’ from Irish citizens and other residents have been utilised to justify the exclusion from the welfare state. Ensuring the reception of asylum seekers within traditional welfare state structures, where rights and needs are considered in a similar manner to citizens, is the underlying argument of this paper.