The Government has been asked to introduce a speedier system of processing applications for refugee status and other forms of protection.
The call was made by the head of the Irish office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Sophie Magennis also welcomed the Cabinet's recent decision to admit 34 refugees fleeing the troubles in north Africa.
She was speaking in Dublin at the opening of a photographic exhibition of refugees who have settled in Ireland since 1956, when Hungarians fleeing Soviet repression were admitted to the country.
Ms Magennis said the current system of processing applications often leaves people fleeing persecution to wait for up to three years for a decision.
During that time they have to live on €19.10 a week in reception centres, which they often find depressing. They are also forbidden from joining the workforce or from going to college.
She said that decisions on applications are made much more rapidly in other western European countries.
In his contribution to a booklet prepared for the exhibition, General Gerald Aherne of the Irish Defence Forces said that for 53 years his comrades on UN missions have been unique witnesses to the trauma experienced by refugees and internally displaced persons.
General Aherne met refuges from Sudan featured in the exhibition.
Their country borders Chad, where he was Deputy Commander of the current UN mission, which is primarily tasked with protecting 1.2m refugees, including those from Darfur in Sudan.
He said the daily chore of women, in particular gathering water and firewood outside their camps, was fraught with danger and rape was commonplace.
The exhibition at the CHQ Building near the Sean O'Casey Bridge is open until Thursday from 9.30am until 6.30pm and admission is free.
