Justice department rejects almost a third of asylum seeker work applications
The Department of Justice has rejected almost a third of the applications asylum-seekers have made to work in Ireland.
In June 2018, asylum-seekers were granted permission to enter the labour market if they've been here for nine months.
According to details released under the Freedom of Information, 4,412 people had applied by last month.
Over 3,000 were granted, but 1,314 applications were turned down - in many cases because they had applied too early.
Fianna Fáil's foreign affairs spokesman, Niall Collins, said it is good so many asylum-seekers want to work here.
He said: "I think that's positive, that these people want to get on in life, they want to improve their lives but they also want to contribute positively and meaningfully to the Irish economy.
"The view that is among some people in society that these people are effectively just taking from the state and are a burden on the state, I think this can go a long way to dispelling that."
