Foreign nationals legally resident in the State will have to carry a credit card-sized permit containing biometric information under legislation published today by the Government.
The Immigration Bill, published by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, outlines the basis upon which foreign nationals can lawfully reside in the State.
Aki Stavrou, Integrating Ireland
Under the legislation, the permit will be required as a means of verifying whether a foreign national is lawfully in the State.
The bill also outlines the conditions under which those who qualify will get a "green card"-style working and residency permit.
"Our immigration system needs to be responsive to the needs of Irish society. We need to encourage those with experience, skills or qualifications that are in short supply to come and work here. We are in a competitive environment, and it is important that we 'sell' Ireland as a destination to the people we need," said the Tánaiste.
Mr McDowell said residency status will be accelerated for those who qualify for the green-card type work permits.
According to the Department of Justice, those who do not qualify for legal status will "be liable to be removed summarily and detained if necessary to ensure removal" [from the State].
"We need to be firm in our approach to removing foreign nationals who shouldn't be here and who don't comply with their obligation to leave the State" said the Tánaiste.
The Bill also outlines statutory processes for applying for a visa and gaining entry and long-term residence, giving to the holders rights in the State similar in most respects to those of Irish citizens.
Michael McDowell
A notification requirement is also being introduced under the legislation for foreign nationals wishing to marry in the State. According to the Department of Justice, this is "aimed at cutting down the opportunity for marriages of convenience for immigration purposes."
The functions currently carried out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner will be subsumed into the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, bringing the country "into line with processes in other EU States," according to the Department.
The Bill will apply primarily to foreign nationals who are from outside the European Union as the rights and obligations of EU citizens resident in the State are governed by the EU Free Movement Directive, implemented in Ireland last year.
Commenting on the publication of the Bill, Aki Stavrou, director of Integrating Ireland, a network of immigrant support groups, said: "We are extremely concerned with a number of issues relating to the timing of the release and are critical of this Bill not only for what it contains, but for what it leaves out.
"Given the imminent election and lack of available time to debate the Bill in the Oireachtas, the question must be raised as to whether this is simply a cynical exercise for electoral purposes given that there is no intention of debating the Bill before the election," he added.
Mr Stavrou said Integrating Ireland is concerned with a number of measures, including the restrictions placed on the right of non-Irish nationals to marry.
"The wide and discriminatory restrictions on marriage are unacceptable as it stigmatises not only immigrants but also places an intolerable restriction on Irish people's right to marry partners of their choosing."
Mr Stavrou warned that despite numerous submissions from organisations including the Irish Human Rights Commission, the bill still contains measures that "potentially place Ireland at odds with its international human rights obligations, in particular to those seeking protection".
The Green Party said the publication of the Immigration Bill just days before the dissolution of the Dáil will "make it difficult to hold a calm and measured debate about immigration issues".
It also said measures in the Bill may cause difficulties to immigrants and their families and that the publication of a Government policy paper on immigration prior to the Bill's consideration would have "assisted public debate around the issues".
Green Party justice spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said: "We want to see a system that is streamlined and transparent and that makes decisions in a timely manner. This is not currently the case."
Mr Cuffe expressed concern at a number of aspects of the Bill, including a provision that gives an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Siochána what he said were wide-ranging powers of arrest and detention "including the Kafkaesque crime of an immigrant failing to make reasonable efforts to establish his or her true identity".