A fall of more than 20 per cent in the numbers seeking asylum here in the past three months may not be due to stricter security checks because of the foot-and-mouth crisis, according to the Minister for Justice.
Mr O'Donoghue met the Polish ambassador, Mr Janusz Skolimowski, in Kenmare, Co Kerry, yesterday at the graduation of nearly 90 Polish and Russian students from a CERT training programme.
A time-frame for a readmission agreement for Polish asylum-seekers was agreed and Mr O'Donoghue said he would travel to Poland in May to sign it.
Countries where there were readmission agreements made repatriation much easier, he said. The fall-off in those seeking asylum was because of better structures, he said.
"Various measures have been introduced to streamline the situation. We had a greenfield site situation, we didn't have adequate structures. Now we have," Mr O'Donoghue said.
Ireland could not have an open-door asylum policy. However, the vast majority seeking asylum were "very unfortunate people and must be treated with dignity".
Some 650 personnel will soon be employed by the Department of Justice exclusively to deal with asylum applications, Mr O'Donoghue said.
It is hoped to have all applications considered in a six-month period.
The Minister estimated there are 12,000 to 15,000 applicants for asylum in the State. The numbers arriving have dropped by 22 per cent.
The dispersal/resettlement programme, in which up to 4,000 asylum-seekers had been spread around the State, has worked particularly well, he said.