Libertas candidate calls for block on immigrants

LIBERTAS CANDIDATE for Ireland East Raymond O’Malley has called for Ireland to close its borders to workers from fellow EU states.

Speaking on Today FM’s Last Word show with Matt Cooper, Mr O’Malley said: “I think a lot of people are very concerned too about the problem of immigration.

“While we’ve massive unemployment in this country, over the last five years we’ve had 500,000 people come in to this country and there has been a funnel effect.

When asked whether it was now Libertas policy to prevent any more workers from the 10 accession states from entering, Mr O’Malley answered: “Well I think as long as we have this rate of unemployment, yes.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0515/1224246568315.html

Racism rife as Irish twice as likely to be given job

RACISM is rife in Irish companies, with a majority of firms twice as likely to give an Irish person an interview than a foreign national with precisely the same qualifications.

A study found discrimination is so widespread it would be "a one in a million chance" that the preference for Irish-only job seekers is an accident.

Researchers sent 240 pairs of similar but fictitious CVs bearing Irish, African, Asian and German names to companies and found the Irish applicants were twice as likely to be contacted for interview.

In some cases, Irish applicants were told the position had been filled but were offered interviews for other posts while African candidates did not get a response of any kind.

After an Irish and Asian candidate applied for an admin job, the Irish person got a call over her CV while the Asian candidate got an email saying: "I regret to inform you the position is now filled."

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/racism-rife-as-irish-twice-as-likely-to-be-given-job-1731224.html

High levels of racism uncovered in EU report

DISCRIMINATION against immigrants is widespread in Ireland and the country is one of the most difficult in Europe for minorities according to a major report.

The Irish Human Rights Commission said it is gravely concerned at the findings of the report, the first of its kind, which was published by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency.

Three out of four immigrants from Africa feel helpless in the face of abuse and discrimination that they say affects every sphere of their lives, from ordering a coffee in a cafe to having their children educated.

Even immigrants from other EU countries in central and eastern Europe say they suffer from discrimination with 25% saying abuse is widespread in the country, while more than half of them say they do not know of any organisation that could support or help them.

The figures released in Brussels, which the agency says is just a taster of the full report, shows Africans in Ireland among the top 10 worst groups in four out of five important areas.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/snauausnoj/

Tougher criteria for work permits

The Government has today announced it is to make it more difficult for foreign nationals to seek employment in Ireland by introducing revised legislation for work permits.

Under the new arrangements, permits will not be granted for jobs paying under €30,000 per annum. Permits will also not be given for a number of professions including domestic workers and HGV drivers.

In addition, the length of time that employers have to advertise jobs will be increased and tougher conditions for the renewal of permits - including higher fees - will also apply.

A further change will see spouses and dependants of future work permit holders having to apply for permits in their own right.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0415/breaking33.htm

Problems with rural integration - report

Not enough is being done to integrate foreign nationals into rural communities, according to a new report published today.

The report, Reaching Out, which has been compiled by Irish Rural Link, finds that prejudice about race and identity is a huge problem for people from abroad living in Ireland.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0303/integration.html

Report.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0303/ruralireland.pdf

Romanian and Bulgarian work restrictions to stay

THE GOVERNMENT is expected to impose work restrictions for Eeropean Union citizens from Romania and Bulgaria for at least another three years due to rising unemployment levels in the State.

This is despite lobbying by the Romanian and Bulgarian governments, which say the move is discriminatory and treats them as second-class EU members.

The European Commission has also encouraged member states to lift labour restrictions against the two member states.

The Government decided to impose a two-year work permit requirements on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals when the two countries joined the EU in January 2007.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1117/1226700658673.html

EU may foot bill for migrants who want to go home

A FINE Gael TD who was branded as racist for suggesting that non-nationals should be offered incentives to return home may have been just a little ahead of his time.

Yesterday it emerged that the Department of Justice is to look at way of tapping into a €629m EU fund that aims to pay economic migrants who voluntarily decide to return to their countries of origin.

The EU's Return Fund will be available to all member states to provide cash to non-EU immigrants who cannot afford to live here or who have failed in their asylum applications.

But the Department of Justice confirmed last night that officials were examining the rules of the fund to see if it could be applied to EU nationals who want to return home.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-may--foot-bill-for-migrants-who-want-to-go-home-1484960.html

Plan to regularise status of migrant workers

THE GOVERNMENT is to set up a programme to regularise the status of undocumented migrant workers in Ireland who previously held work permits.

Senior officials told unions and employers at social partnership talks last week that the scheme will be aimed at foreign national workers who have become undocumented through "no fault of their own".

The move appears to be a significant U-turn by the Government, which previously signalled that any such move could provide an incentive for illegal immigration.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0922/1221998222088.html

The elite and governed on migration collision course

With one in eight of us worried about our job security, it may be time for some restrictions.

The jobs of the elites -- professionals and public-sector workers -- are largely insulated from displacement.

For them, immigration means cheaper au pairs and faster service in restaurants. The jobs of the governed aren't.

For them, immigration means losing your job to someone with far lower expectations. The elites have a cosmopolitan outlook. To them, our religion and the Irish language are relics of the past. The governed disagree. They've travelled abroad and like foreigners and foreign culture. But they like the idea of returning to an Ireland that is recognisably Irish. On the 400th anniversary of the first one, a second plantation is sweeping the nation and the two sides may be headed for a showdown. If they are, the man in the middle of it all is Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, Conor Lenihan.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-elite-and-governed-on-migration-collision-course-1475230.html

FG Councillor calls for upskilling of Irish workforce

Cllr. Pat Whelan has called for the up-skilling of Irish workers after it emerged this week that 90% of new jobs created in the last 12 months were being filled by foreign nationals.

“This information from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) bucks the widely held belief, that many migrant workers will leave Ireland for other EU countries as our economy slows down, and that a large proportion of new jobs being created in Ireland will be taken up by the Irish workforce,” said Cllr. Whelan.

“The biggest share of new jobs are being created in high value sectors like financial and other business services, which grew by 26,300 in the year to the first quarter of 2008, and accounted for almost half (48.9%) of all jobs created. It had been assumed that Irish workers would take up most of these positions. But the CSO data indicates that foreign nationals will be recruited for a significant proportion of these new positions,” the Town Councillor continued.

“This trend needs to be fully researched by Government, as it could well be a warning about Ireland’s ability to attract foreign direct investment. There is no doubt that some of this increase in jobs uptake by migrant workers is due to their improving English language skills, leaving lower skilled jobs and moving up the value chain in line with their educational qualifications,” he said.

http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/articles/1/29488

Migrants from new accession states down 40% on last year

THE NUMBER of citizens from the EU's newer member states who registered to work or to access public services in the Republic fell by 40 per cent in the first half of the year, suggesting a significant easing of the inward migration flow from central and eastern Europe.

Figures released to The Irish Times show that just over 40,000 people from the EU's 12 newest members obtained a PPS number in the first six months of the year, compared to 66,500 over the same period last year.

There was a decline of some 40 per cent among Poles and Lithuanians, and the trend appears to have accelerated last month, with these countries showing reductions of 46 and 44 per cent respectively. Take-up among Romanians has fallen by 58 per cent so far this year.

The economic downturn shows no evidence yet of deterring highly skilled workers from outside the EU. Figures held by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment confirm some 4,900 work permits were issued in the first half of the year - 600 more than at the same point in 2007. These permits are granted for jobs that cannot be filled from within the European Economic Area and exclude labourers, childminders and most catering staff.

Among those granted new permits this year, the largest numbers came from India (1,383) and the Philippines (605), both of which are well-represented in the health service. These were followed by US citizens (415), South Africans (253) and Malaysians (233).

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0717/1216073195600.html

Over 90% of new jobs go to non-Irish nationals

Official figures show that employment growth slowed again in the first quarter of this year.
The Quarterly National Household Survey, published by the Central Statistics Office, shows that there were just over 2.1 million people working in the first quarter, an increase of 53,000 or 2.6% on the same period a year earlier.

The CSO figures show that 352,000 non-Irish people were in work in Q1, more than 16% of the total, while just over 21,000 were unemployed. Almost 40% of workers in the hotels and restaurants sector were non-Irish.

http://www.rte.ie/business/2008/0605/jobless.html

Non-Irish workers are tentatively estimated to have accounted for over 48,000 (90.0%) of the annual increase in employment and for 1,300 (14.9%) of the increase in the number of unemployed persons.

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/current/qnhs.pdf

Equality ruling favours foreign workers

COMPANIES who employ foreign workers face the prospect of substantial compensation claims after one employer was ordered by the Equality Tribunal to pay €290,000 to 58 staff because it did not translate work contracts.

Dublin-based Goode Concrete said it will challenge the tribunal’s ruling in favour of its staff, which was published yesterday.

Each of the workers was granted €5,000 on the grounds their contracts and safety documents were not produced in their own language or translated by an independent party.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=63195-qqqx=1.asp

Tommy Broughan TD asks Minister about job displacement

Job Protection.

278. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will investigate reports that Irish workers are being forced to take redundancy in the construction sector when workers from outside of the Republic of Ireland are still being employed by the contractors and subcontractors involved; if she will review whether the State’s redundancy scheme is being used to fund the replacement of direct employees by agency or subcontracted staff in the construction sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17350/08]

279. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to what is allegedly happening in a company (details supplied), where Irish workers are allegedly being forced to take redundancy and are being replaced by non-Irish nationals; if she will check all P35s and pension schemes of all agency and non-agency workers employed by the company and all of their subcontractors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17351/08]

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20080508.XML&Node=2759&Page=32

Ireland's immigrants returning home ?

With growing concerns over job losses and the credit crunch starting to bite, Ireland's migrant workers are feeling the strain - not just in their pockets, but in their relationship with the adopted homeland.

With a drop of close to 25 per cent in Ireland's once booming construction industry, fears are also rising that concerns over job losses, the credit crunch and the still high cost of living will produce an unprecedented wave of racism and xenophobia. The Polish community in Ireland, which is estimated at around 230,000, is experiencing the largest exodus of workers back either to their homeland or other parts of the EU in search of work.

Ireland has experienced one of the fastest rates of immigration in history. In less than a decade its non-indigenous population has shot up from just under 1 per cent to 12 per cent. There are officially now half a million non-Irish living in a state of four and a half million.

Up to 27 per cent of migrants living in the Republic today come from Britain. Estimates put the non-Irish population at about 12 per cent, but some academics in Dublin argue it could be as high as 18 per cent.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/04/ireland.immigration

NI Population split over influx of migrant workers

Last year statistics revealed Northern Ireland had seen a record level of immigration in 2005 and 2006 with The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency recording large numbers travelling here from Poland and Lithuania.
About 9,000 migrants into Northern Ireland came from outside the UK. Immigration outstripped natural population growth for the first time. Some homes of migrant workers have been attacked in incidents labelled hate crime by the PSNI.
Tyrone and Fermanagh, where some of the largest numbers of migrants have settled, registered the strongest opinions both for and against immigration. Forty-five per cent in that area said immigration was a good thing, with more than a third (36%) disagreeing.
DUP supporters were more likely to be concerned about immigration than supporters of any other party. Forty-three per cent of DUP supporters did not agree that immigration is generally good for Northern Ireland, with 30% agreeing.
Among all other parties, supporters were more likely to agree with that statement than disagree.
Catholics were more likely to be receptive to immigration than Protestants.
Forty-six per cent agreed immigration is good for Northern Ireland, with 27% disagreeing.
Among Protestants, opinion is split, with 37% disagreeing and 35% agreeing with the statement that immigration is generally good.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3673969.ece