The Minister for Justice has abolished the advisory board for the Reception and Integration Agency, the main body co-ordinating services for asylum-seekers and refugees.
Mr McDowell said the continued existence of the board, which included representatives from a wide variety of backgrounds, was no longer warranted.
The decision has angered some members, who had already written to complain that the board had not met since last February.
"This was the only bit of consultation in the refugee system and now it's gone. But the board was powerless anyway and couldn't achieve anything, so it's hardly a surprise," one member said last night.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul, which was represented on the board, expressed its unhappiness at the decision. "It was supposed to have a definite brief but hasn't been given the chance to deliver anything," a spokeswoman said.
Another member pointed out that the Government had still to set up the Refugee Advisory Board envisaged in the 1996 Refugee Act.
In a letter sent to board members last week, the Minister said he was not proceeding with the plan of his predecessor, Mr John O'Donoghue, to put the agency on a separate statutory footing.
Mr McDowell said he had no plans to make changes to the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.