Under proposals being considered by the Government some 2,800 asylum-seekers in emergency accommodation in the Eastern Health Board area will be asked if they want to move outside Co Dublin.
The proposals are part of a Government initiative to disperse asylum-seekers to ease pressure on housing in the EHB area.
Within the last week, 74 asylum-seekers were moved to Kilkenny and Waterford, according to the EHB. A spokeswoman said there would be a "substantial" increase in the numbers transferring out of Dublin in coming weeks.
Under the proposals, the 2,800 asylum-seekers in emergency accommodation in Dublin would receive letters asking them if they wished to move to another part of the State. The initiative is being considered by an interdepartmental directorate.
More than 85 per cent of asylum-seekers are in Dublin, and human-rights groups are concerned at conditions in some of the hostels and guesthouses used.
Of the 9,200 asylum-seekers in the EHB's area, 2,800 are in emergency accommodation and 6,400 in private rented accommodation.
Some 3,000 offers of accommodation have been made by local authorities outside Dublin in response to advertisements by the Department of Justice.
EHB officials met seven other health boards yesterday to discuss dispersal plans. An EHB spokeswoman said the other boards were working with their local authorities to identify facilities which pass planning and building regulations.
Mr Dier Tong, a spokesman for the Association of AsylumSeekers and Refugees in Ireland, said he accepted dispersal of people provided necessary preparations were made for their settlement.
"When the Kosovar refugees came to Ireland, people came to receive them and were prepared that they were people from different backgrounds and they accepted them. Our fear would be that with the current row about asylum policy, the reception by locals might not be good," he said.