The Department of Social Protection has identified approximately 5,200 International Protection applicants who may be impacted by the introduction of a means test next month.
A spokesperson said the department is is in the process of notifying these adults of the change.
Earlier, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys confirmed that International Protection applicants will see their payments cut if they are employed and earning over €125 a week.
She said it is normal in the social welfare system to assess everyone's income, adding that the Comptroller and Auditor General recommended that the payment be means tested.
Migrant rights' groups have called on the Government to pause the introduction of the means test.
Nasc Migrant and Refugee Rights Chief Executive Fiona Hurley expressed surprise that the measure is being introduced in advance of a Government review of entitlements for International Protection applicants, and said it would impact families in direct provision already living in poverty.
"We're concerned that there hasn't really been any consultation around what this will mean for working families in Direct Provision," Ms Hurley said.
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"We know that the rates of poverty amongst people living in Direct Provision are quite high and people may not realise that people living in Direct Provision don't receive Child Allowance so this cut to payments will have a very significant impact on families," she added.
Doras Chief Executive John Lannon also called on the Government to "pause this decision until a proper analysis of the impact and savings has been done".
Mr Lannon said that the move would "push more people into poverty".
Minister Humphreys said the change will ensure that everyone is treated the same way.
"If you have an income from employment, it's always taken into consideration when you're talking about social protection payments. It's applying the rules across the board," she said.
In its 2022 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services, the Comptroller & Auditor General said that "legislation requires the Department to conduct a means assessment after the claimant has been in receipt of income for at least 12 weeks, and to reduce or terminate the (daily expenses) allowance to reflect any increase in means."
At the time it found that because "the Department has not conducted any means assessments of claimants ... [it was] not in compliance with its statutory responsibilities in operating the scheme."
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The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council said he supported the case to pause the introduction of a means test for adult asylum seekers.
Nick Henderson said that two weeks ago his organisation wrote to the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Integration about this asking for engagement but did not hear back.
He said that asylum seekers often work temporary low paid jobs and that children in direct provision did not have equality as they do not receive the child benefit payment.
"We are deeply concerned about that, we have raised it with the Government multiple times.
"Any attempt to level the playing field should include increasing the allowances provided and introduce child benefit."
He suggested that a means test could be introduced, but the €125 amount seemed "quite low" and would be difficult to get by on.
Last week, the Government announced that "the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will review entitlements of International Protection applicants and report back to Government within six weeks."
However, in advance of that review, updated advice on Gov.ie states that "an income assessment is being introduced for the Daily Expenses Allowance with effect from June 2024, for persons 18 years or over".
As a result "the Daily Expenses Allowance payment will cease where a person has income of more than €125 per week for a combined total of 12 weeks or more," it said.
The advice clarified that "for claims involving couples or families, the Daily Expenses Allowance payment of the person who has income may be reduced or withdrawn. This will not impact on any payment in respect of other family members" and that "income includes pay from employment, self-employment and social welfare payments".
Currently, adult International Protection applicants receive a weekly allowance, called the Daily Expenses Allowance, of €38.80 per week if they are in State-provided accommodation, and €113.80 is they are not as a result of the current accommodation shortage.
Asylum seekers can also apply for permission to work six months after they have applied for International Protection in Ireland.
The basic rate of the Daily Expense Allowance of €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child has not increased since 2018.
Adult International Protection applicants are also not entitled to Child Benefit payments, however accommodation and three meals a day are provided by the State.
Medical cards should be means-tested, says SF
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Social Protection Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire has said the move is a "logical step", and that medical cards for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees should also be means tested.
"Where someone is working and has an adequate income to sustain themselves, it makes sense that they do not need to have the full daily expense payment, and that it should therefore be means tested.
"If they qualify under a means test, then of course they should be entitled to it. There should be equal treatment. But a means test should apply to people arriving under the temporary directive and to those seeking international protection in the same way it applies to everyone else."
Mr Ó Laoghaire said that tens of thousands of people who apply for a medical card each year are denied one, after failing a means test, and that those coming from Ukraine earning a wage should not have automatic access to one.
"There needs to be equal treatment," he said, adding that means tests for medical cards should take place within two to three months of a person's arrival.
People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy described the introduction of the means test for International Protection applicants as "proformative cruelty from the Government" and an "imaginary issue ... made up" so the coalition can "be seen to be doing something about the issue of migration".
"Its going to cost more money to implement means testing than they are going to save.
"There is not going to be a single extra euro invested in services for Irish people as a consequence, this is just about scape goating asylum seekers," he said, describing it a "divide and rule" move.
Mr Murphy said that Ireland is seeing a "race to the bottom politics" and criticised Sinn Féin who he said was "previously supportive of universal access to healthcare and medical cards for everybody" but is now calling for the introduction of means testing for medical cards for both asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.
