Ensuring equality in an increasingly diverse population obliges the State to "reinvest in a secular, Republican nature", the Minister of State for integration has said.
Arguing that it would be a "total and utter disaster" for Ireland if migration were to be mismanaged, Conor Lenihan said there was a need to guarantee equality and social mobility for non-Irish people here.
"We do live in a republic, and a republic is meant to guarantee equality for all citizens and for all people who reside and pay taxes and want to be part of the society. I don't want to get back into certain controversies that have assailed me since I got into this job but we do need to reinvest in the secular, republican nature in terms of guaranteeing equality for all citizens."
Mr Lenihan said many immigrants were overqualified for the jobs they held, and suggested there were moral and practical reasons for ensuring that newcomers found jobs that corresponded to their skills and education level.
He was speaking yesterday at a seminar held in Dublin by the National Action Plan Against Racism (NPAR). With the term of the action plan due to end next year, the meeting assessed achievements to date and heard that priority would be attached to education and the justice system in the coming months.
Chair of the NPAR's steering group Lucy Gaffney said targets in education will include the development of an intercultural strategy for the sector and the undertaking of a research project on accommodating diversity in secondary schools.
There was "nothing sinister" behind recent problems in Balbriggan, where pressure on schools had left many children - among them large numbers belonging to ethnic minorities - without places. Rather, Ms Gaffney said, these problems were the result of a lack of planning.
"I think the summer could have been spent properly assessing the influx of new children, their age brackets and where they're going to go to school."
