Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna has accused her Irish colleagues in the European Parliament of "having a racist approach to non-EU nationals".
She said she was appalled that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael MEPs voted against amendments intended to ensure that "third-country nationals residing legally in the EU be treated in the same way as EU citizens with regard to their political, social and economic rights".
Ms McKenna said the stance by Irish MEPs "smacks of blatant racism and sends out a clear message that some people are considered by our Irish MEPs to be more equal than others and entitled to rights which others are denied".
Ms McKenna also criticised a Labour MEP, Ms Bernie Malone, for voting against an amendment to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ms Malone rejected the criticism and said her group voted against the amendment because of the extensive anti-discrimination provisions in Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty.
In a survey entitled "Extremism in Europe", presented to the Parliament, a chapter on Ireland dealt mainly with the increasing number of asylum-seekers. It said 55 per cent of Irish people had defined themselves as racist in a European Commission survey but this was lower than the average recorded throughout the rest of Europe.
The report, by Mr Paul Cullen of The Irish Times, stated that the Department of Justice was determined to retain control over the asylum procedure and to keep it secret.
