Youseff (not his real name) has five children aged between 18 months and 16 years, and a young wife who is expecting their seventh child early next year.
They live in a B&B in the west of Ireland, on £67.50, a week.
"My wife and I get £15, and we get £7.50 for the children."
They also get £15 a week, "for Pampers for the baby."
The family arrived in Ireland in June, having left their home, on the coast of a war-torn region of east Africa three years ago. Youseff's parents were murdered there and his eldest daughter, then 18, was raped and murdered in front of the family.
They moved to another African country where they also suffered persecution, so Youseff paid a man to arrange their transport out of Africa. They had no idea where they were going until the merchant handed Youseff £20 and the address of the Refugee Application Centre in Dublin. He then realised his family was in Ireland.
Following a brief stay in Dublin, they moved to the west as part of the Government's dispersal programme. Their board is paid at the B&B, where they get all their meals. The £67.50 is meant as "comfort money".
"It is hard to make that last because the food is not always good for us to eat. We are Muslim and cannot eat pork and there is pork everywhere. We can eat cow and chicken but only if they are killed in the Hal'al way. So we buy biscuits, crackers, cakes and other fruit for the children to eat when they are hungry at night.
"The lady [owner of the B&B] is very nice. She tries sometimes to cook Hal'al food. We try to force the children to eat, but there are a lot of chips, and potatoes and beans. And the children like more spicy food."
He says his wife worries "about the baby in her tummy" and whether she is getting an adequate diet. The accommodation is cramped.
"The children are in one small room and my wife and I have one room with the baby. It is very cramped and the children are fighting all the time: 'You took my pencil', 'Quiet I have to do my homework'."
They take sandwiches to school, and Youseff tries to give them some money as well, "because all their friends take money.
"Their sandwiches is always cheese so I try to give money so they can get a drink or a coffee, for variety.
"It is always difficult because they come home and say, 'Daddy we need a calculator', 'Daddy there is is show. I need to pay money'. Always when they come home they need money for school. I went to Social Welfare a few times to ask for more money but I am shy about it."
The children are often invited to friend's houses but cannot reciprocate the invitations. "It's embarrassing for them because if friends come they have to be kept outside."
Asked how his children's situation makes him and his wife feel, his reply is "completely helpless".
"We cannot do what we are supposed to. My children ask when we will have house, they ask my wife to cook the food they like, and she cannot, so she has to go into a room and cry.
"They ask me why I brought them here. I think sometimes they do not even tell us many of the things they need, because they know I cannot give them to them .
"It makes me very sad. It is affecting the children already, but I don't know how long we will be in this hostel. It might be 2 or 3 years." As an asylum seeker, Youseff is not allowed to work. In Africa he ran a successful clothing and footwear shop. "I do get depressed," he says, "but we just have to continue, like robots."
