The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, is to meet his French counterpart in Paris today to discuss measures to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants to the Republic through western French seaports.
The visit follows last week's visit to London by Mr O'Donoghue to meet the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, on the same issue.
Today in Paris, Mr O'Donoghue will attempt to agree on bilateral arrangements with the French authorities about exchanging fingerprints of asylum-seekers arriving in the Republic from France, as has already been agreed with Britain.
The Government is due to introduce legislation allowing the fingerprinting of asylum-seekers over the age of 14.
Mr O'Donoghue says he does not expect this will cause asylum-seekers to feel stigmatised or criminalised. The majority of asylum-seekers arrive in the Republic having travelled through France and Britain.
A considerable number of eastern Europeans, particularly Romanians, have travelled to the Republic illegally in recent years, some hidden in containers arriving through the seaports of Le Havre and Roscoff.
Under the arrangements being discussed with the French authorities, Mr O'Donoghue is seeking to place a permanent representative of the Garda's National Immigration Bureau in Paris to liaise with the French police and customs authorities.
A spokesman for Mr O'Donoghue said the Republic, France and the United Kingdom shared concerns about the incidence of illegal immigration and the trafficking in humans by organised crime gangs.
Recent reports by the European police intelligence agency, Europol, indicate that this is the largest activity after drugs engaged in by organised crime gangs in the EU.
Last week in London Mr O'Donoghue negotiated the establishment of a permanent Garda representative in the UK to liase with British police and customs on illegal immigration to the Republic.
If bilateral terms are agreed with France, the Republic will begin sharing fingerprint analysis on asylum-seekers with France and the UK. If it is found that a person seeking asylum here has already done so in France or the UK, they can then be automatically returned. Under EU regulations a person must stay in the first country in which they have sought asylum until their application is processed.
Mr O'Donoghue is due to meet the French Minister for the Interior, Mr Jean-Pierre Chevenement, in Paris this morning and will also discuss the Government's likely approach to internal EU policing and judicial co-operation under the Schengen Agreement.
Under existing Schengen arrangements, some EU countries allow cross-border hot pursuit and surveillance by police. The United Kingdom has applied to join Schengen, necessitating a response from the Republic.
A spokesman for Mr O'Donoghue said he would indicate that the Republic would agree to maintain the common travel arrangements whereby there are no restrictions on people moving between the UK and the Republic. However, Ireland will oppose cross-border pursuit and surveillance by police. It is expected that the Republic will apply to join Schengen during the forthcoming French EU presidency.