Ireland has been criticised for granting refugee status to just 8 per cent of asylum applicants and for the low level of State care offered to children seeking asylum.
The criticisms are contained in a human rights report on Ireland prepared by the Irish member of the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights. It also cites concerns about the treatment of migrant workers, Travellers and juvenile prisoners.
"Report on the Situation of Fundamental Rights in Ireland in 2005" highlights that just 7.9 per cent of cases dealt with by the Office of Refugee Applications resulted in a positive determination to the applicant.
It criticises incidences of mass deportations of asylum seekers in 2005 and highlights the case of two Nigerian mothers who were deported in March 2004, even though the arresting officers could not locate their children. In the event the two women were deported anyway along with a number of students, it says.
The report, which is due to be made public on Monday, also highlights the low standard of State care provided for unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the Republic. It cites the findings of a recent review by the Health Service Executive, which found that there was a disparity in the level of State care for unaccompanied children seeking asylum compared to that provided for Irish children.
However, the report praises Government initiatives to increase the number of refugees accepted by Ireland under the UN settlement programme to 200, up from 40. It also welcomes the new procedures introduced in 2005 to assess the right of the parents of Irish-born children to stay in Ireland, which allowed thousands of families to remain.
The report, prepared by Donncha O'Connell of the faculty of law at NUI Galway, will form part of a wider assessment of fundamental rights across all 25 EU states. The Irish report expresses concern about the practice of housing juvenile prisoners in adult prisons.
It says that 147 children between the ages of 15 and 17 had been placed in adult prisons in the year to October, an inappropriate practice that has already been highlighted by the Ombudsman for Children in the Republic, Emily Logan.
Meanwhile, the report also raises concern about changes introduced to the Intoxicating Liquor Act over the right to refuse entry to pubs.
The impact of the change was to transfer cases of discrimination taken by Travellers from the equality tribunal to the District Courts. This had the effect of reducing the number of cases taken by Travellers.
The report will be published on the NUI Galway website on Monday.