Supporters of undocumented migrants are calling for calling for an earned regularisation scheme to be introduced in the State.
The call coincides with a discussion on the issue of the plight of undocumented migrants at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice today.
"There are an estimated 30,000 undocumented migrants, including children and families, many of whom have been living in Ireland for years," committee chairman David Stanton TD (Fine Gael) said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
As part of a Justice for the Undocumented Campaign, the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland is asking the committee to bring its concerns over undocumented migrants to the attention of Minister for Justice Alan Shatter "as a matter of urgency".
"We cannot let another year pass without a solution. We need to act so that next Christmas those who are documented and who have made Ireland their home have security and protection" Edel McGinley of the centre said.
The campaign is concerned with the high numbers of undocumented families and children living in Ireland without rights and under stress and fear.
Earned regularisation offers a "practical solution" that responds to the needs of the government and undocumented migrants.
To mark International Migrants Day yesterday an interactive map of inward and outward migration was produced by Locus Insight in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration.