Different world: Polish job-seekers queue to enter an Irish job fair in Warsaw in 2006

THE number of Polish people claiming social welfare and other dole payments is now almost 20,000, according to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

The figures show the serious difficulties new arrivals in Ireland have faced since the recession began, with thousands of immigrants from eastern Europe forced to sign on.

Nearly 425,000 people are claiming job-seekers' allow­ance, job-seekers' benefit or one-parent family allow­ances, according to the department.

However, the numbers signing on from other countries are also showing some of the most significant increases, the figures show.

The second-largest contingent of welfare claimants continues to come from the UK, with almost 22,000 people from England, Wales and Scotland listed.

The next largest group comes from Poland (19,553) with other eastern and central European countries figuring more highly than ever before.

According to the department, 3,551 people from Latvia and 6,565 people from Lithuania are now in receipt of dole payments.

Smaller numbers, including 1,119 people from the Czech Republic, 1,904 from Slovakia, 603 from Estonia and 778 from Hungary have also joined the welfare queues.

While asylum-seekers are not entitled to welfare payments, those who have been granted refugee status can claim the dole.

According to the figures, 4,011 Nigerians are in receipt of welfare in the form of jobseekers' benefit and allowance or one-parent family payments.

Almost all would have been former asylum-seekers or the parents of Irish-born children, as other types of residency status were rarely – if ever – granted to Africans.

Figures from the department also show there are still difficulties in ensuring welfare recipients are permanently resident in Ireland.

According to details of claims last year, more than 15,000 claims have been refused in the past three years because the individual did not live full-time in Ireland.

The number of such claims that were rejected reached a record high in 2009 when 7,260 ineligible welfare demands were refused.

The number of people claiming welfare from certain other countries remains remarkably low with only 316 individuals from China in receipt of dole payments, despite a large influx of young immigrants.

The number of non-nationals in receipt of family income supplement in 2009 has also shown a stark rise as they find themselves struggling to make ends meet.

A total of 16,480 people from Ireland were eligible for this payment during the year, while 1,190 people from the UK claimed it.

By comparison, a total of 3,023 Polish people, 728 Lithuanians, 445 Latvians and 466 Nigerians were in receipt of family income supplement.

There has also been a marked rise in the number of people claiming illness or injury benefit since the recession began, according to figures.

By far the biggest number of recipients were Irish nationals, with almost 75,000 people claiming either one of these allowances.

The next largest contingent was from the United Kingdom with around 2,500 claimants while 977 people from Poland are also on ­disability.

The world cup of dole Non-Irish nationalities claiming payments

UK 22,000
Poland 19,553
Lithuania 6,565
Nigeria 4,011
Latvia 3,551
Slovakia 1,904
Czech Rep 1,119
Hungary 778
Estonia 603