Immigration Into Ireland

Towards the end of the 1990s Ireland became a prosperous country. The Celtic Tiger as it was known lasted from 1995 to 2007. From 2000 on thousands of non national workers and asylum seekers came to Ireland.

In 2005 the Irish citizenship laws were changed to stop non nationals with Irish born children being permitted to remain in the country. The Irish Government also tightened up on the regulations relating to work permits because they expected to get workers from the enlarged European Union as 10 new states joined the EU on 1st May 2004.

Ireland has relatively few migrants because of its geographical position on the Western edge of Europe. The fact that it is an island also reduces the number of immigrants. Illegal immigrants include those who come into the country via Northern Ireland from the UK and some migrant workers may not leave Ireland when their work permits expire and there are also students who work more than the legal limit of 20 hours per week. The main threat against illegal immigrants is deportation. Ireland has repatriation agreements with Poland, Nigeria, Romania and Bulgaria and has sent a large number of people back to their country of origin when they had exhausted the legal process of applying to remain here.

The reason that Irish employers want to bring in non national workers is that they have a skills and labour shortage. It is also true to say that Irish people did not want to work in fast food restaurants, as cleaners and in other lower skilled jobs. There was also a shortage of people with particular skills like nurses and doctors and these are employed in private practise and in hospitals.

There is a difficulty in the fact that non nationals are employed in lower skill occupations. I recently heard of a Polish radiographer employed as a care assistant in a nursing home. The National Qualifications Authority has set up the National Framework of Qualifications to try and establish where degrees and diplomas from foreign academic institutions fit into Irish standards. The Economic Social Research Institute has done a lot of work on migrant workers and they have produced reports on how well non national workers have integrated into the workforce and whether or not they are getting the same promotional opportunities as Irish workers. Migrant workers are at risk of being exploited by unscrupulous employers.

Some people say that as we are now in recession we should not be concerned about migrant workers, we should focus on the Irish people who have lost their jobs and are being forced to emigrate. I think that a lot of the people who are emigrating are professionals who want to broaden their experience and make a better life for themselves in Canada or Australia. We also have a moral duty to people who live and work in this country to provide support, be mindful of discrimination and the risk of poverty and social exclusion.

Migrant workers tend to work hard and they have the potential to be a great asset to the economy. After all Irish people were given a chance in the past in other countries and as a result the diaspora has spread and Ireland has an influence far beyond its borders.

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