The Government has been asked to take in refugees from Afghanistan that have been refused entry to Australia.
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The UN High Commission for Refugees request was reported today by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Ms O'Donnell, who signalled her personal support for the move.
Ms O'Donnell said: "We have been approached to assist some Afghan refugees who have found themselves unwanted in the south seas.
"As we know, Australia has refused to take them and we are considering the humanitarian request to accept some of the refugees. That is being considered by the government at the moment, but I would be fully supportive of it".
The UN refugee agency recently expressed concern about the possible adverse fallout for refugees and asylum seekers in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in the United States.
The Department of Justice, under whose remit the processing of refugees takes place, say they are awaiting the outcome of discussions at Government level.
Ms O'Donnell made her comments after unveiling the annual report of the Refugee Agency. The report was the last to be issued by the agency under its current structure as it is to be re-titled the Reception and Integration Agency under the auspices of the Department of Justice.
She said that since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States the global community had become more truly interdependent than ever.
She added: "So supporting refugees abroad, through the UNHCR, or the welcoming of refugees into our country, are concrete and substantial reflections of this interdependence.
"Ireland is now a major contributor to UNHCR and being a non-aligned member of the international community can play a key role in assisting humanitarian endeavours, peacekeeping, refugee support and development assistance".
But Ms O'Donnell also accepted that in the recent past there had been "unfortunate" incidents involving the treatment of refugees "which shame us all".