IRELAND WILL continue to receive a significant number of migrants despite the downturn in the economy and a rise in emigration, Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan told the Parnell Summer School in Avondale, Co Wicklow, yesterday.
Though PPS numbers allocated to migrants were down 40 per cent for the first six months of this year, "the flow continues inwards and 90 per cent of new jobs created in the economy have gone to migrants", the Minister said.
This would continue, as would emigration, in a twofold process that was also a feature of other EU countries. He noted, for instance, that between 600,000 and 700,000 people left the UK annually. He also said that, while it was proposed that proficiency in English be mandatory for success in migrants securing Irish citizenship or permanent residency, he believed this should also be a requirement for success in their securing a work permit.
Mr Lenihan said "inward migration will be a permanent feature of Irish society over the next 30 to 40 years". He noted that 12 per cent of children in Irish primary schools were the children of migrants or foreign-born parents, while the figure for post-primary schools was 7 per cent and growing.
The success of Ireland's immigration project to date was "a story most of the rest of the world is amazed at. Most of our bigger neighbours have struggled with inward migration for 20 to 30 years," he said. "Teachers in particular are to be congratulated for the manner in which the country has coped with it this past 10 years," he said.
Housing policy was also important, to ensure "we didn't create strong areas of disadvantage as we did in the past", as was learning English, he said. Towards that object, there were 2,000 language teachers in primary schools, up from 260 in 2001. "What we have now is a great opportunity to create a tolerant and open society which mirrors our economy - the fourth most open in the world," he said.
Responding to Paul Rowe, chief executive of Educate Together, who asked "what is your role?", Mr Lenihan said his ministry, as with those for disability and children, was "to ensure a joined-up Government approach" to integration.
He worked with the departments of justice, education, and community affairs and was responsible for €120 million of the education budget spent on language teachers. In addition, he could allocate €10 million of the Justice budget for local integration projects. He had an advisory role with the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Most of the past year had been about consultation. It was now at the implementation stage and his department was recruiting staff. He expected it to take on responsibilities at other departments, including health, and enterprise and employment.
Philip Watt of the National Consultative Body on Racism and Multiculturalism called on Fine Gael and Labour to reconsider their objections to the wearing of the hijab in schools. He acknowledged "the commonsense approach being adopted by most schools"on the issue.
He also called on the Government "to ensure, at this time of cutbacks, that sufficient resources go into integration, especially at this time of our historical development".
Prof Áine Hyland of University College Cork said that the honours Irish requirement, where admission to teacher training colleges was concerned, "militated against the diversity of teaching in Ireland. We do need to look at it". She added the denominational nature of the majority of teacher-training colleges should also be looked at.
