A telephone hotline will be set up between immigration officials at Dublin Airport and Government staff processing immigrant work permits, to prevent a repeat of the recent jailing of 19 Moldovans.
The priority line will give immigration officials direct 24-hour contact with work permits staff in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The authorities were criticised last month after the Moldovans were jailed despite having valid work permits and visas, because the jobs they came to take up had fallen through.
The men were released by the courts after several days and were offered alternative employment, but their plight highlighted shortcomings in the system of dealing with immigrant workers.
Following their release the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, announced new arrangements to allow for temporary admissions in similar circumstances.
A spokeswoman for the Department said the direct telephone line would allow immigration officials to contact work permit section staff during and outside office hours. The Moldovans had arrived at Dublin Airport on a Sunday when work permit staff could not be contacted.
The Moldovans had been granted one-year work permits for jobs with a meat-processing company, but by the time they arrived in Ireland this work was no longer available due to the BSE crisis. They are now living in Co Kildare and working in food-packaging.
Under the current system, someone granted a work permit is effectively tied to working for the employer named in the permit.
The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Inter-culturalism called recently for changes in the scheme to allow the work permit to attach to the employee instead of the employer.
Last year 18,000 work permits were issued, a threefold increase on the previous year. The number of staff processing work permit applications has increased from 14 to 20.