A REPORT by the US State Department has said Ireland continues to have a significant problem with racism towards minorities and immigrants.

The 2010 Human Rights Report on Ireland said discrimination and attacks against those newly arrived and certain ethnic groups were a growing issue.

The report said: "The law prohibits discrimination based on language or social status, and the government enforced the law. However, societal discrimination and violence against immigrants and racial and ethnic minorities, including Asians, Eastern and Baltic Europeans, and Africans, continued to be a problem.

"There were racially motivated incidents involving physical violence, intimidation, graffiti and verbal slurs.

"Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) reported an increase in 'Irish Only' job advertisements, and the Economic and Social Research Institute noted that job candidates with typical Irish names were more likely to be appointed."

The report, which addresses a huge number of social problems in Ireland, also said that the travelling community were "regularly" denied their rights.

It said: "[They] faced societal discrimination and were regularly denied access to premises, goods, facilities, and services, despite applicable anti-discrimination laws."

The US State Department also identified human trafficking as a growing problem and said men, women and children had fallen victim to it in Ireland.

The report stated: "The country is a destination and, to a lesser extent, transit point for women, men, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour."

It said there also appeared to be a problem with workers being exploited by commercial firms, particularly in construction, fishing, domestic work and agriculture.