Asylum-seekers from a new list of countries declared "safe" by the Government will have their refugee applications fast-tracked from next month.
Hundreds of nationals from the 10 EU accession states, as well as Romania and Bulgaria, will face a presumption that they are not refugees.
The move is aimed at deterring asylum claims from countries which are not considered oppressive or likely to lead to people fleeing persecution.
To be allowed to live and work permanently in Ireland as refugees, asylum applicants must show they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their native countries.
The list will particularly affect Romanians, who accounted for 11 per cent of the 5,397 asylum applications made this year until the end of July. A total of 145 nationals of the Czech Republic also registered asylum claims in this period.
The 10 listed countries due to join the EU in May 2004 are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
From next May, nationals of these countries will be free to travel to Ireland for work without work permits.
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said that following consultations with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, intends designating the 12 states as safe from September 15th. In deciding which states should be included, the Minister considered whether the country was party to certain international human rights instruments.
Whether it had a democratic political system and an independent judiciary, and whether it is governed by the rule of law, she said.
If it appears to the refugee authorities that an asylum applicant is a national of or entitled to live in a state designated by the Minister as a safe country of origin, they shall be "presumed not to be a refugee" unless they can show "reasonable grounds" for contending to be one, said the spokeswoman.
Nationals of these states will have their cases prioritised and they will be able to appeal a negative initial decision in writing only, rather than through the normal oral hearing. The list would be kept under review and countries may be added or subtracted. Human rights campaigners in Europe have opposed such "white lists" on the basis that minority groups, such as the Roma, face persecution in states that might otherwise be considered safe.
Mr Peter O'Mahony of the Irish Refugee Council yesterday expressed "grave concerns" about the move, particulary the effect on Roma applicants.
"Refugee status is determined on an individual basis and even countries on the verge of joining the EU have been shown to have persecuted specific individuals, so inevitably this will mean increased obstacles for some people in their quest to be recognised as refugees in Ireland," he said.
Mr O'Mahony also expressed concern about the restricted appeals.