AMID RISING unemployment, a migrant rights group has moved to highlight the contribution of Ireland’s migrants, who make up around 13 per cent of the workforce.
AMID RISING unemployment, a migrant rights group has moved to highlight the contribution of Ireland’s migrants, who make up around 13 per cent of the workforce.
Figures compiled by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) show that migrant workers contribute billions to the Irish economy annually. The tally includes €1.5bn every year in taxes and PRSI, €10.86m in registration fees to the Garda National Immigration Bureau, €15.5m in work permit fees, €140m in third level education tuition fees paid by international students, and €2bn approximately in personal consumption.
A statement from the MRCI referred to media reports which looked at the burden that some migrants impose on the State but omitted what such people contribute to the country. “These new figures contradict
the perception that is being portrayed by some quarters,” remarked Siobhan O’Donoghue, director of the MRCI.
“They suggest that migrants are not claiming disproportionately compared to what they contribute.
“Either the facts are being distorted or the whole story is not being told in an attempt to score cheap political points and stir up controversy, ultimately scapegoating migrants in the current economic climate.”
Accordin to O’Donoghue:
“Without migrant workers, there is no doubt the Irish economy would be under even greater strain. Consider the scenario if all migrant workers left tomorrow; health and care services would collapse, as would the services sector, agriculture, and hospitality. The private rental sector would be severely hit. “The reality is that migrant workers have been, and will continue to be, a vital part of Ireland’s social and economic life.” MRCI chairperson Bobby Gilmore echoed this point, saying:
“Migrant workers have been central to our economic growth over the past decade and half. To suggest that they are somehow a threat is disingenuous and far from the truth.
We are clearly in a financial crisis; the challenge now is to ensure that no one gets left behind.
“People in responsible and influential positions are not immune from the tendency to resort to scapegoating groups such as migrants as a means of distracting from bad decisions, explaining away our current
reality or seeking attention f or their own advancement. At all costs we need to avoid cheap shots at the very people who are helping to hold this country together.”
Figures from the Central Statistics Office have suggested that at least one in six people signing on to the Live Register is originally from outside the State, with EU nationals comprising almost half of this number. Unemployment continues to grow, and now stands at 6.7 per cent.
