Reaction:Immigrant groups and Opposition parties raised concern at provisions contained in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, published by the Minister for Justice yesterday.
The Immigrant Council said the proposed law would require significant amendment in order to achieve the Government's stated aim of establishing a fair and transparent immigration system.
"At first glance, there is little evidence that the problems besetting the system now will be addressed - inordinate delays in decision-making, inconsistent decisions, lack of clarity and a reliance on the courts to sort out the mess, with resulting cost implications for taxpayers," said chief executive Denise Charlton.
"The fact that the Government has reneged on its commitment in the programme for government to establish an independent appeals tribunal for immigration decisions means its reliance on the courts will undoubtedly continue."
Reacting to the Bill, Fine Gael's spokesman on immigration and integration, Denis Naughten, homed in on provisions which, he said, would make it harder for Irish citizens to marry non-EU nationals and bring their spouses into the State.
"Under current law, any Irish person married to someone from outside the EU does not have a legal entitlement to bring their spouse to live with them in Ireland," Mr Naughten said.
"Justice Minister Brian Lenihan had an opportunity to address this unfair situation through the Immigration Bill. Instead, he has actually made it harder for Irish citizens to bring their non-EU spouses into the country."
Labour's justice spokesman Rat Rabbitte said it was not apparent that the pledge to put Ireland's immigration policy on a statutory basis had been delivered in the Bill. "Far from expressing in law what precisely are the rights, entitlements and expectations of migrants from outside the European Economic Area, the Bill appears to be giving the Minister the power to regulate inward migration."
Mr Rabbitte stressed that it was important to get this legislation right and that, in particular, "there is a proper balance struck between the right of the State to control the flow of those entering the State with our obligations to uphold the rights of all individuals under various international conventions and charters."
Referring to a section which provides for lawyers being made personally liable for the costs of failed judicial review cases, the director general of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, said: "Such a provision already exists in the rules of court. Its inclusion here is unnecessary and unjustified. It seems designed to discourage vulnerable people from fully exercising their right to the protection of the law."
In its reponse, the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) said the Bill was seriously flawed and lacked the principles of fairness, transparency and due process. Siobhan O'Donoghue, the group's director, criticised the "unchecked powers and discretion" it gave to the Minister and the Garda Síochána. "According to the Bill, the Minister has the power to summarily deport a person from Ireland without any right to appeal and that is shocking," she said.
The Immigrant Council and the MRCI both criticised the Bill for not providing a clear right to family reunion for migrants.
While acknowledging the need for a fast, efficient immigration system, FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) emphasised the need to strike a fair balance between efficiency and rights.
The group's director general, Noeline Blackwell, said that unlike the asylum system, the Bill published yesterday does not include an independent appeals mechanism.
The Green Party and Sinn Féin both welcomed the publication of the Bill.
Sinn Féin said it would require rigorous scrutiny, "particularly in view of the shortcomings of its previous incarnation".
