A key figure in the Southern Health Board has rejected media reports which suggest that large numbers of asylum-seekers are "ripping off" the system.
The board's programme manager, Mr Tom Ryan, said staff had been subjected to insults by members of the public who claim that asylum-seekers are in receipt of cheques for expensive cars.
"We will spend over €65 million this year on supplementary benefits and other allocations, and just 1 per cent of that is for non-nationals," Mr Ryan said. "We will deal with around 700,000 different payments, and just 1 per cent go to non-nationals."
He told a Cork radio station there was no positive discrimination towards non-nationals who, he said, were treated in exactly the same fashion as Irish people.
Mr Ryan said he was "absolutely certain" that no payment had ever been made to an asylum-seeker to purchase a car.
The vast majority of payments to asylum-seekers were under €1,000. This money was allocated for rental deposits or clothing purchases.
Mr Ryan admitted he could not track aid cheques to find out if they were being spent appropriately. However, he said in the same way one could not prevent an Irish person from using supplementary benefits for drinking or gambling.
He added that negative reports in newspapers and on the radio were increasing ill will and hostility towards non-nationals in Ireland.