Irish Political Review, March 2006 - Athol Books

VOLUME 24 No. 3 CORK ISSN 0790-1712
Could Poland Take Over Ireland?
The leader of the Labour Party, Pat
Rabbitte has called for consideration of a
"Green Card" system for Immigrants.
Fine. The big question is: If in government,
would the Labour Party have the political
will and mettle to apply its principle?
"The time may be coming when we
will have to sit down and examine
whether we would have to look at
whether a work permits regime ought to
be implemented in terms of some of this
non-national labour, even for countries
in the European Union," he said
(3.1.2006).
The 'thinking-out loud' might have
passed off, on the part of all the other main
parties and the media, were it not for the
poll in the Irish Times a couple of weeks
later on 23rd January 2006.
Pat Rabbitte's personal rating jumped
by four per cent. And Labour Party support
by two per cent.
A large majority in the Irish Times poll
wanted to reintroduce work permits for
workers from the new EU member states,
and a similar majority believed there are
already enough or too many foreign
workers here. However, most voters see
the presence of foreign workers here as
good for the Irish economy and society.
The Irish Times tns/MRBI research
shows that just 17% of people believe that
the status quo should remain, whereby
workers from the 10 Accession States
aren't subject to any restrictions and can
freely apply for employment upon arrival
in Ireland.
Seventy-eight per cent of respondents
said they believed that immigrants from
the newer EU States should be obliged to
apply for work permits before they could
seek employment here.
Five per cent said they had no opinion.
Reacting to The Irish Times poll results,
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the results
showed that there was "a sophisticated
response" to the issue of migration, in that
a majority of respondents believed it had
been good for the Irish economy and
society but at the same time were
concerned about job displacement.
A spokesman for Fine Gael leader
Enda Kenny said that while the party was
not in favour of a Work Permit system for
new EU countries at present, it welcomed
the debate on the issue that had been
sparked by Mr. Rabbitte.
Mr. Rabbitte also accused Government
TDs of doing a "U-turn" on the issue of
migration, as they had strongly criticised
his comments three weeks ago when he
called for a debate on the issue.
TRADE UNION SUPPORT
Following his "Green Card" statement,
the only support the Labour leader received
was from the President of SIPTU, Jack
O'Connor. The Catholic Archbishop of
Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, rallied in behind
his Protestant counterpart, Archbishop
John Neill, stating that Ireland needs an
"open migration policy".
Mark Field, Chief Executive of ISME,
the Small and Medium Enterprise body
stated that Mr. Rabbitte was
"rattling a sabre that doesn't need to
be rattled. He said there was no need for
a reassessment of immigrant policy here.
The market would regulate itself and, he
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claimed Irish employers were “screaming
out” for more workers to maintain
economic growth" (Irish Independent,
4.1.2006).
"You are hopping Mad Rabbitte",
quoted the Irish Daily Star in banner
headlines. They had Dr. Sean Barrett, a
Trinity Economics boffin describe the
Labour leaders remarks as "crazy".
"We need to continue outsourcing
lower-skilled jobs and moving up the
value chain", the TCD economist said.
"We've outsourced things like shirts,
socks and shoes already. The tourism,
meat processing and building sectors
would scarcely exist without input from
workers from places like Brazil and
Poland", Professor Barrett said (The
Star, 4.1.2006).
In its leading article the Star says Rabbitte
"is trying his best to be all things to all men
on this issue" (4.1.2006).
The Labour Party leader has only
himself to blame for this! That the political
establishment has only belatedly woken
up to the folly of its decision to allow full
admission from the 10 Accession countries
does not bring much credit to the body
politic.
WHAT DID THE MAN SAY?
"Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has called
for a reassessment of immigration policy
in the light of the Irish Ferries dispute
and evidence of the displacement of
Irish workers in a range of industries,
writes Stephen Collins, Political
Correspondent.
"The time may be coming when we
will have to sit down and examine
whether we would have to look at
whether a work permits regime ought to
be implemented in terms of some of this
non-national labour, even for countries
in the European Union," he said.
"In an interview with The Irish Times,
Mr Rabbitte said that unless basic
standards for workers were established
across the EU, Irish jobs would be
threatened.
"The Labour leader also said that
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