Sir, - It must have been obvious some years back when we began bragging about economic growth rates and shouting about the Celtic Tiger that an increase in the influx of immigrants (legal and otherwise) was an inevitable consequence.
In these circumstances one would have thought that the problems now besetting us would have been foreseen and that appropriate legislative and administrative measures would have been taken to deal with the matter in a civilised manner. Instead, little or nothing appears to have been done and we have had the disgraceful spectacle of men women and children queuing in the open while members of the Government accuse each other of incompetence and backbenchers make speeches liable to inflame racial hatred.
As with so many other problems caused by incompetence and inertia in the public service, it now seems to be emerging that the solution lies in the setting up of yet another government agency which, incidentally, would be the third to be spawned by the Department of Justice alone in recent times. Surely this is the last thing we want as, apart from taking years to establish, such agencies create more bureaucratic confusion and dissipate their energies in the turf wars which inevitably ensue. - Yours, etc.,
M.D. Kennedy, Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.