Opposition parties have criticised Government proposals to tighten rules on family reunification for those granted refugee status describing them as "deeply troubling".
The International Protection Bill will change regulations that allow people who are granted asylum here to bring family to Ireland.
They will now have to wait three years for family reunification and they will have to show they are financially self sufficient.
Labour's Duncan Smith said the plan was "deeply troubling" and "totally unacceptable" and not what Ireland stands for.
"We're talking about instituting systemically separating families for five or six years," he said.
"This is absolutely unacceptable, this is not what Ireland stands for.
"Both ICTU and Ibec have said they have issues with this legislation. It would be wise for the minister to pull back on the most deplorable elements of this Bill and engage with opposition parties."
Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman said a lot of clarity was needed on the Bill's provisions including the risk for children in being detained as part of the new border procedure.
He also said he was concerned that people were not getting citizenship or family reunification after receiving refugee status in Ireland.
"It's a hard status to reach but when people reach it they should be able to see a pathway for themselves here in Ireland," said Mr O'Gorman.
"If it's really hard for them to get citizenship, and if it's harder for them to get family members to join them, that actually makes their integration into the country more difficult."
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan also slammed the proposal.
"If someone is fleeing war or persecution and they are granted asylum, our objective as a society should be to support them and integrate them into society as strongly as possible rather than taking measures that are punitive," he said.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy described the Government's approach to the International Protection Bill as "performative cruelty".
He said the Bill was another example of the Government "kicking those at the bottom with the view to distract from their failures".
However, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said he did not believe the Government proposals went far enough.
"We have enormous pressures within Irish society at the moment," he said.
"We are adding a population of about the same size as Galway city to the country on the annual basis without providing the infrastructure that exists, for example, in Galway city."
Mr Tóibín said that unless infrastructure is matched to population increase, immigration levels would become unsustainable.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on justice Matt Carthy said the Government's approach to migration was too reliant on the EU Migration and Asylum pact.
He said the pact did not take specific issues in relation to the Common Travel Area and the border with Northern Ireland into account.
Mr Carthy said: "Of course, we'll look at any improvements that are being made but I would encourage Government to move away from the announcements and start taking meaningful action to address those core issues and not be guided entirely by the EU Migration and Asylum pact."
"It doesn't take into account that we are an island nation that happens to be divided - one part is part of the European Union and the other isn't," he said.
"The Common Travel Area isn't recognised at all as a factor within the pact so we do need to have an Ireland-specific plan and set up policies and to date we haven't seen that from Government."
Mr Carthy said the "core issues" included addressing processing times of asylum applications as well as ending "obscene profiteering happening across the international protection system".
