Sunday, January 22, 2006

Immigration myth

The Freedom Institute's blog has some interesting figures from the The CSO's current (Q3 2005) Quarterly National Household Survey about how immigrant workers are effecting wages in light of recent Pat Rabbitte comments. You can read the Article here. The best fact i think is this.
While construction absorbed the highest percentage of immigrant workers, wage inflation in this area stood at 6.0% in the 12 months to September 2005.
With Inflation between 2-3% Construction wages grew. Compared to
Earnings in the Financial Services sector were up just 1.7% in the 12 months to September, below the rate of consumer price inflation.
Edit: A survey in the Irish Times tomorrow says that about 78% of the population polled want eastern Europeans subject to Work Permits. Also according to politics.ie the PD supporters are the ones most against work permits. But comparing the figures from the Freedom Institute and the poll makes scary reading. Pat Rabbitte type scare tactics could lay the basis for an Irish BNP. Scary times indeed. Edit again: Minister for Social and Family Affairs Seamus Brennan weighs in:
"These people deserve to be treated properly in Ireland, they deserve to be welcome here," he said. "They're young people who come here for fairly short periods to do work and that's what Irish people have done all over the world for generations. "It wouldn't be right for us to start with any kind of serious restrictions."
SIPTU leader:
“It is now absolutely clear that, if we are to go into new national pay talks, and that has still to be decided, these issues must be addressed,” Mr O’Connor said. “Even if we wanted to, neither the trade union movement, nor the Government, nor probably employers, could emerge with an acceptable proposal from those talks that does not comprehensively address these issues.”
Edit 3. Michael McDowell
No one is really suggesting that the people who are here now working in our economy should be sent home." He conceded that it would be difficult to implement work permits asking: "Who would be eligible for them and if there was excessive demand for them who would actually decide that this person gets one of those permits and that person doesn't? "The interests of Ireland depend on there being migration into the country at this stage. It can't be uncontrolled migration and I take that poll as saying to the Government, remember you have a power to control it and if needs be you should control it,"
Ned O'Keefe
"The situation has to be looked at in some orderly way. But at the end of day we have to have some protection in place for Irish people who are seeking employment in their own land," Mr O'Keeffe said. "It's a matter for the legislature to put systems in place where we can maybe work on a quota system," he added.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just looking at the breaking news on the Irish Times after the results of the survey were published. FF's Ned O'Keefe, Labour's Pat Rabbitte and the PD's Michael McDowell all say in one form or other that they think that migration should not go uncontrolled.

U-turn on permits

Simon said...

"The interests of Ireland depend on there being migration into the
country at this stage. It can't be uncontrolled migration and I take
that poll as saying to the Government, remember you have a power to
control it and if needs be you should control it,"

Interesting statement but he is saying "if needs be you should control it".

But he is not saying it should be brought in now. More so if it comes a time when our country declines it should be controled (I think it wouldn't be an issue as if the economy goes and unemployment soars they wouldn't come to Ireland looking for work) but now it shouldn't be.

The difference is

Pat Rabbitte thinks it should be brought in now.