Officials in the Department of Justice are examining the most appropriate term for classifying people who are not Irish nationals. The term nonnational has become regarded as inaccurate and misleading as it implies that people living here do not have a nationality or that they are living illegally in Ireland.

The matter was raised with justice minister Michael McDowell by Fianna Fail TD Pat Carey, who suggested that the phrase 'non-national' be removed from the Immigration Act.

"The term is not wholly inaccurate but it plays into the hands of those who want to pursue a racist agenda, " Carey said this weekend. "This kind of outdated phrasing, whether intentionally provocative or not, should have no place in public debate and I don't believe it's one the Department of Justice should encourage."

The matter is expected to be dealt with in the forthcoming Immigration and Residence Bill which is due to be published before the summer.

McDowell is said to be leaning towards a new phrase, with 'non-Irish national' , 'foreign national', 'migrant' and 'member of new community' all under consideration. The term would be used in official documents and legislation to described new arrivals in the state as well as residents from countries such as the US who do not hold Irish citizenship.

The difficulty in getting agreement on a single term has been raised by McDowell, who admitted that "alternative phrases, which may be acceptable at present, could also be viewed in time as pejorative terms which are inconsistent with the spirit of inclusiveness and tolerance which we wish our immigration system to reflect."

The Irish Refugee Council (IRC), which does not use the term 'non-national', supports a name change. "It's a tricky one. We don't have one term that we use. People tend to be fluid in their use of language but we should make a conscious effort to avoid language that is offensive, " Peter O'Mahony of the IRC said.