The number of people who arrived in the State as asylum-seekers but were granted permission to stay as parents of Irish citizens has more than doubled in the past year, new figures show.
Asylum-seekers who become parents of children born in Ireland are entitled to apply to remain in the State to care for their offspring, who are automatically Irish citizens.
Official figures for the first nine months of this year show that 2,436 people were granted permission to remain, on the grounds that they were parents of Irish-born children. Of these, 1,838 were current or former asylum-seekers.
The remainder were illegal immigrants or non-nationals working in Ireland on the work permit or work visa schemes.
Last year, 909 of people granted permission to remain on this basis were current or former asylum applicants.
The Immigration Control Platform has criticised the fact that Ireland, unlike other EU countries, grants automatic citizenship to children born here to non-nationals.