The Immigrant Council of Ireland has called on the government to increase the number of migrants being accepted into Ireland.

Jerry O'Connor, of the Immigrant Council, has said the Irish navy is punching above its weight in ongoing search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean, but there should be a reconsideration of the number of migrants Ireland is willing to accept. Ireland has agreed to resettle 600 migrants.

The government could be doing a lot more to ease the lives of desperate migrants by letting more of them resettle here, Mr O’Connor said.

“Certainly Ireland has taken a lead in the naval operation. Other countries have fallen by the wayside. So yes we are punching above our weight if you like in terms of the search and rescue,” he said.

“We do think however Ireland should now be looking again at the numbers we’re agreeing to accept.”

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has lashed out at plans to set up twelve new direct provision centres.

Mr Adams says the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean is proof that the system needs to be shut down immediately.

The comments were in response to newspaper claims that another 12 centres are being planned in response to the growing crisis and the rising number of applicants.

There should be no future for direct provision, especially for migrants who have risked their lives to come here, Mr Adams said, saying the camps are “little internment camps”.

“It’s good that we’re taking in some of the refugees and asylum seekers but to do what? To stick them in a hostel or some centre which the government itself have said is unacceptable because of the human right violations?"

Considering Ireland’s own history “as people who only just over a hundred years go went through the very same thing in terms of our folks across the Atlantic”, Mr Adams says Ireland should “be using all of our strength as a small island nation, with our history, to prevent what is happening.”