A policy of refusing asylum seekers the right to access work is "dubious" under international human rights standards, the head of the Irish Human Rights Commission told a conference for representatives of Ireland's new ethnic communities yesterday.
Responding to questions about the system of "direct provision" for asylum seekers here, Dr Alpha Connelly, chief executive of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC), said everybody had a right to work.
While this does not mean they have the right to be provided with a job, they do have the right to avail of job opportunities which arise.
In this context, she said she would regard the complete denial of access to work as "dubious" under international human rights protocol.
This was particularly true the longer people were subjected to delays in the asylum process and were refused permission to use their skills to access work.
Dr Connelly, who stressed that she was making her comments in a personal capacity rather than from an IHRC policy perspective, was speaking at the first national conference of the New Communities Partnership (NPC) in Croke Park yesterday.
The partnership is a national network of over 25 ethnic minority groups from regions such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East which aims to address the causes of difficulties faced by new communities in Ireland.
Among these difficulties are racism, discrimination, unemployment and access to employment, poor housing and accommodation.
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with delegates, Dr Connelly also said that, with some exceptions, a lack of consistency in approach seemed to be a "failing of the Irish civil service generally".
She added that non-citizens who have lived here for a long period might be entitled to expect a similar level of educational fees as Irish citizens rather than being treated as non-EU citizens. However, this would not apply to students coming to Ireland with a view to continuing studies undertaken elsewhere.
Yesterday's conference also heard about the significant difficulties faced by ethnic minority groups looking to secure funding from Government for grassroots initiatives at a time when the ethnic diversity of Irish society is changing radically.
Among the other major challenges which the NPC faces are how to influence national policy and how to move beyond the current support which it receives from the non-governmental organisation Cairde in order to stand alone.