The sharp decline in numbers seeking asylum in the Republic continues, the latest figures from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) show.
Some 1,238 applications were lodged in the third quarter of this year (July to September 2004), compared with 1,912 in the same period last year and 3,327 in the third quarter of 2002.
Ireland now ranks 15th in the industrialised world (of 36 countries) in terms of how many asylum applications it receives. The figures place it behind Cyprus (10th) which received 2,841 applications and Slovakia (11th) which received 2,624 in July to September this year.
France tops the league with 16,000 applications in the three-month period, followed by Britian, the United States and Germany.
Mr Peter O'Mahony, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said the big drop in numbers seeking asylum in the industrialised world was due to the more stringent measures to discourage applicants.
"The drop affords Ireland a great opportunity to tackle a range of immigration-related issues for long now on the agenda," he said.
"Foremost of these is the need to actively commit to a programme of integration of the various categories of immigrants who are now long-term residents here."
It was time the issue of not allowing asylum applicants to work for six months after their application was lodged was revisited. The INOU, IBEC and ICTU have all supported the proposal that asylum applicants be allowed to work six months after lodging an application.
"It is also imperative to tackle the backlogs in the cases of persons who are still waiting for a response to their applications for leave to remain.
