The Irish Refugee Council this morning said asylum-seekers should have the right to work six months after their applications have been lodged.
The call has been backed by the employers' body IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Conference of Religious in Ireland.
In a policy document put out to coincide with World Refugee Day IRC chief executive Mr Peter O'Mahony said: "At a time when the country has a huge need for labour the Irish Government's total exclusion of most asylum-seekers from the labour market is morally indefensible and is inconsistent with Ireland's commitment to human rights. "Prohibiting a pool of potential workers already in the country from taking up employment has economic costs which are both unnecessary and undesirable and makes a mockery of commitments to social inclusion."
According to IBEC's assistant director Ms Aileen O'Donoghue: "The current position simply does not make sense. We have a situation where employers are experiencing serious difficulty in recruiting staff yet the Government is precluding individuals who are able and willing from participating in the labour market."
ICTU general secretary Mr Peter Cassells said the congress strongly supports the recommendations from the refugee council to grant the right to work after six months to asylum-seekers whose applications remain unprocessed. He said: "To force human beings, who are strangers in need, to remain idle for an indeterminate period of time is a denial of their fundamental human rights."