A reference to asylum-seekers and refugees has been removed from the proposed social partnership agreement, following a row over its contents.
The Government's decision to delete the entire passage, however, has angered the Irish Refugee Council, which wants refugee issues to be addressed as part of the partnership process.
The council and other social partners had objected to a reference to asylum-seekers and refugees in a draft agreement presented by Government officials in negotiations last week.
It said that although the Government would continue to consider the views of all interested parties, "it is considered that this area of government is not appropriate to be managed within the context of the social partnership framework".
The Irish Refugee Council, which was represented at the partnership talks as a member of the community and voluntary pillar, had sought to have this statement deleted from the draft agreement.
In a revised draft circulated to the social partners yesterday, the Government has gone further than this and removed the entire reference to asylum-seekers and refugees.
The remainder of the reference had read:
"The issues of asylum and refugee protection are complex and present great challenges at national, European and international levels.
"Central to the Government's policy in this area is the need to ensure that the integrity of the asylum process is not undermined and that refugees receive protection as quickly as possible and are integrated into Irish society."
Mr James Stapleton, the Refugee Council's policy officer, said the decision to remove the entire reference was "really disappointing".
The Government, he said, had moved from an explicit exclusion of refugee issues from the social partnership process to an implicit exclusion of those topics.
In a shortened section on "migration and inter-culturalism", the document circulated yesterday says the National Action Plan against Racism will be published by the end of this year, and "measures agreed by Government" will be implemented.
Mr Stapleton said racism was an "everyday experience" for many asylum-seekers and refugees.
"How can you talk about inter-culturalism and racism and not deal with asylum-seekers and refugees?" he asked.
The revised draft, dealing with social and economic issues, will be considered today by the Community Platform, which represents 26 community and voluntary groups in the partnership talks.
Representatives of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the employers' body, IBEC, are attempting to agree an anti-inflation strategy, which formed part of the pay deal negotiated last month.
ICTU leaders hope the final package will be available for a meeting of the organisation's executive council on Monday, which will decide whether to recommend the agreement to union members.
No moves had been made up to last night to restart talks between the Government and the leaders of the farming organisations, who say the proposed agreement does nothing to address the income crisis in the agricultural sector.
