Senior gardai are to travel to Britain and Northern Ireland this week to meet police, customs and immigration officials about the trafficking of illegal immigrants into the State.
The officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau are seeking assistance from the UK authorities in stemming the flow of immigrants, which officials say has again reached about 1,000 per month after dropping to about 800 a month earlier this year.
Gardai at the weekend made their first arrest under new legislation aimed at reducing the flow of illegal immigrants.
A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions following the arrest of a Romanian man who was bringing five fellow nationals into the State through Rosslare ferry port at the weekend.
The man, who is himself seeking asylum and who lives in Dublin, was stopped by Wexford gardai when he drove his car off the ferry from Cherbourg on Friday evening. He was held under Criminal Justice legislation for 24 hours and then released.
He was arrested under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act, which was introduced only 10 days previously. Under the terms of the Act, any person found to be smuggling humans can be imprisoned for up to 10 years or face an unlimited fine.
The three other men and woman in the car applied for asylum and were taken to processing centre in Wexford. Another man who had travelled as a foot passenger also applied for asylum.
When gardai searched the car driver they found a cheque made out to him by another Romanian national. It appears the man was being paid to bring fellow nationals into the State.
According to Garda sources, at least one Romanian criminal gang based in Cherbourg is involved in organising illegal immigration through the port. The immigrants pay £150 upwards, plus their fares, to be brought here.
However, it is believed most are entering the State through Northern Ireland, arriving through Larne ferry port.
This week, officers from the Garda bureau will visit Larne to discuss the issue of immigrants passing through the UK, via the port, to the State. They will hold meetings with UK Customs, police and immigration officials.
One of the main issues for discussion will be the fingerprinting of suspected illegal immigrants and the sharing of this information between the Garda and the relevant UK authorities.
The Garda bureau, headed by Chief Supt Martin Donnellan, is establishing permanent liaison officers in Paris and London to work with the national police forces in identifying the gangs responsible for trafficking people into the State. Europol, the EU police liaison agency, has identified human trafficking as the second-largest criminal activity in Europe after drug trafficking.
At least 10 groups have been identified as being involved in trafficking people to the Republic.
The growth in immigration is partly due to what appears to be the spread of illegal trafficking to other eastern European crime gangs. Some 39 Czechs arrived in Dublin Airport on two flights from Prague last week and immediately sought asylum.