Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) Liam Herrick has said that the increase in asylum applications was something which the State had failed to plan for.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Mr Herrick said that recent wars had led to an increase in applications across Europe and is an issue which the State had "full notice of" for several years.
"The State had also failed to implement its own policy commitments to provide reception accommodation facilities," he said.
"This goes back many years where there were government commitments under the 'Catherine Day report' and others to move from the system of direct provision to a more expansive State provided system - we haven't built the reception centres."
Mr Herrick added that the "pertinent point" is the State’s obligation to meet fundamental rights.
"If the State wants to say that it has an emergency which it couldn’t have predicted, that ultimately isn’t a tenable position for the situation we’re in today."
He said that Ireland is receiving roughly the average number of applications for international protections as other EU members.
Mr Herrick said that the EU Migration Pact will "compel" the State to reform the process in place, adding that this would be a move which "everybody can get behind".
It comes ahead of the launch of the IHREC's three-year strategy next week.
Earlier this week, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said officials in his department estimate that around 15,000 people will arrive in Ireland seeking asylum this year.
State 'making efforts' to improve asylum seekers' rights
Meanwhile, Minister of State at the Department of Justice Niall Collins said that the State is "making efforts" to improve the rights of asylum applicants who are unaccommodated.
Speaking on the same programme, the Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick County said that the State has partnered with NGOs and a homeless charity to provide services to asylum seekers without accommodation.
"It's also the case that people who are unaccommodated, they receive higher weekly allowance than those who are provided with State accommodation, while their application for international protection is being adjudicated," he said.
Deputy Collins added that there are a lot of resources being invested into the area of migration management.
"We have to try to be able to react as quickly as possible, we’ve done that in relation to the list of safe countries and that is obviously concluded in a sharp increase in the number of people who are being denied international protection in the first instance."
"It's about trying to create an application process which reacts quickly to the situation, and I think part of that will also be the establishment of a migration unit within the court system to deal with appeals, which ultimately end up in the court process also."
He added that it is the intention of the Department of Justice to roll out at least six large-scale accommodation centres.
