Why tougher immigration rules make sense for Ireland now

THERE are some unspoken rules when it comes to engaging in conversation; in other words, steer clear of certain topics that might cause confrontation between yourself and friends. After all, democracy says we are all entitled to have an opinion on every subject under the sun, irrespective of what others may believe.

All true, but it can lead to some heated arguments among friends. One topic which is bound to get the hair standing on the back of necks is how Ireland should treat immigrants and asylum seekers.

For years, the government trotted out the line that Ireland actually needed more immigrants to fuel growth in our economy. However, recently it began to drop a hint that perhaps we didn’t need as many as were turning up at our door.

Consequently, it came as no surprise to me that sweeping immigration reforms were introduced last week, leading to a difference of opinion, to say the least, between those who welcomed the changes and those who said these will make no difference to day-to-day spending, except to make it all the more difficult for the reunification of families.

The man at the centre of this latest storm is justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, who said he wasn’t forcing anyone to come to Ireland and stressed immigrants were not “entitled” to bring their families here.

His philosophy is simple: immigrants coming here need to be self-sufficient. That also extends across to those looking for asylum. Those people will now face charges for their accommodation, while some social welfare payments will impact on a person’s ability to become an Irish citizen.

Even the time an immigrant lives in this country before applying for citizenship has been extended.

I’ll put my cards on the table: I agree with the new changes, irrespective of what others may think.

That led to me getting into an argument with a friend of over 40 years last week, who believes with full employment and the rest, Ireland should extend a warm welcome to whoever is looking for sanctuary or anyone who wants to make a better life for themselves.

To some extent I agree with that philosophy, but sadly we have seen our generosity thrown in our face by many who have come to this country, either legally or illegally, over the past 20 years.

Don’t get me wrong: there are Irish-born scroungers who would put any immigrant or asylum seeker to shame. They have spent their entire lives whinging about everything and anything and haven’t worked a day in their lives.

The rest of us often have difficulty finding out exactly what we are entitled to, if, for example, we lose our jobs, but ask any of those who have never held down a job in their entire lives and they will give you a detailed breakdown, including what pitfalls to avoid so as not to hold up your claim.

I can remember a time when the waiting list to sign on at the local ‘employment exchange’ in Carlow stretched along Kennedy Avenue and around the corner close to the entrance to the Post Office. Carlow was officially an unemployment black spot with up to 19% of the workforce looking for a job. Today, the national average is around 3%.

But we all know you have to wake up at some point and with our population now heading towards the six-million mark, and the public mood far from friendly towards visitors, be they immigrants or asylum seekers, I wasn’t a bit surprised by the introduction of the new rules.

I have a friend who works in the service industry in Dublin who came to this country from India over two years ago, albeit on a Portuguese passport, who wants his wife and two children to join him here. As he comes from Goa, once occupied by Portugal, he and his children hold Portuguese passports. However, his wife is from another country and so he needs additional paperwork for her.

He doesn’t have a problem with that and doesn’t have a problem paying his way with regard to accommodation. At the moment, he shares an apartment with several others, one of them who was an asylum seeker.

My friend, who qualifies for nothing, in other words a medical card, accommodation relief and so on, finds it difficult to see how this former asylum seeker makes no secret of the fact that he has no intention of working, because in doing so he would lose his dole money, medical card and rent allowance.

Those in disagreement with the changes to the system will quickly retort that is only one example of abuse – and even Irish-born people do the same. Yes, that is true, but I’m sure there are thousands of such cases and slowly but surely the rest of us are getting fed up with the freeloaders.

I know Christmas is supposed to be a time of goodwill to all – which is great – but, like every season, it comes and goes. If someone arrives on our shores either legally or illegally and are not capable or prepared to pay their way, why should the rest of us have to pick up their tab?