The Irish Human Rights Commission said today the new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill falls short in a number of sections, failing to protect the human rights of immigrants and applicants.
Speaking at a media conference releasing the commission's observations of the Bill, IHRC President Maurice Manning said the Commission welcomed the initiative to consolidate immigration law into a single statutory code but added the Bill contained "shortcomings".
The IHRC has made 59 recommendations to the Government in 24 areas.
"Based on our assessment of the 2008 Bill, the IHRC believes additional safeguards are needed in a range of areas to strengthen and enhance the current provisions of the proposed legislation and to ensure the human rights of immigrants and protection applicants are fully protected and upheld," he said.
Areas of particular concern to the IHRC were sections which said a person could be removed from the State where it "appears" to an immigration officer or Garda that the person is unlawful - a departure from current Irish law which allows 15 days written notification of the Minister's proposal to make a deportation order.
"The IHRC considers that the safeguards in current Irish law are necessary to ensure that any removal from State is proportionate and takes into consideration the human rights of the person to be removed," Mr Manning said.
Mr Manning said a functioning tribunal system was needed in Ireland which could deal with independent reviews and lead to a reduction in the need for judicial reviews.
He said the way the Bill was presented could lead to people being removed from the State before their reviews were completed .
"It sends a signal that they are envisaging people being deported or removed while the judicial review application was still being heard and we're quite concerned about that because the very point of taking the judicial review may be negated," Mr Manning added.
The IHRC welcomed the inclusion of provisions relating to the victims of trafficking, in particular a 45-day period of "reflection and recovery", but said it still fell short of what was required to meet international standards.
The commission made recommendations in this area saying victims of trafficking should have access to health care including psychological support, secure accommodation, translation servies and access to legal advice.
Concern was raised about a provision which would see victims of trafficking deported if they failed to co-operate with any prosecution.
Other areas the IHRC made recommendations included provisions for the detention of people who have applied for protection and the right to marriage.
The 2008 Bill proposes to restrict the right to marry for all protection applicants and non-permanent residents unless they are granted an exemption by the Minister.
Mr Manning said the IHRC recommended the provisions should be strongly reconsidered.
"The IHRC hopes the Minister will give serious consideration to modifying the Bill on the basis of these recommendations, in order to ensure that Ireland's human rights framework is as strong as possible for everyone in Ireland, including those who come within the immigration or protection system," Mr Manning said.