The Government has announced that some migrants from outside the EU who have lost work in Ireland are to be offered temporary permits to seek employment.
The scheme will be open to those who have previously held a work permit but became undocumented through no fault of their own.
This scheme will not apply to those made redundant because of the recession or to those whose contracts have ended.
The announcement was welcomed by ICTU and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland who have campaigned for a 'Bridging Visa' scheme.
MRCI Director Siobhan O'Donoghue said the move was the first step towards regularising an 'estimated 30,000 undocumented persons in Ireland'.
The full details of the scheme are expected to be announced shortly and should open for applications from 1 October up to the end of the year.
Successful applicants will be granted a temporary period of residence of four months within which to reapply for an employment permit.
The move was announced by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern who said it was important that foreign nationals working in Ireland do so legally at all times.
However, Mr Ahern said there was evidence in a number of cases that the reason for a person becoming undocumented was not the fault of the individual but of the employer.
