Madam, - The Immigrant Council of Ireland welcomes comments by Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Brian Lenihan, at the weekend, that he wishes to address "unacceptable delays" in the process migrants face in becoming Irish citizens.
We particularly welcome his comment that Ireland should welcome migrants who wish to become Irish citizens after a reasonable period of residency.
In relation to Mr Lenihan's comment that migrants wishing to become citizens should be competent in the English (and possibly also the Irish) language, it has been the council's experience that the vast majority of migrants with poor, or no, English language skills are very keen to learn the language.
One of the difficulties they face is the current ad-hoc provision of English language courses for adults. The council has been highlighting the need for a national programme of language courses for migrants from a non-English-speaking background for some time. We believe such courses should contain an "introduction to Irish society" element.
The provision of language and introductory courses would provide a range of benefits for migrants and the Irish community. Those benefits would range from helping migrants integrate into Irish communities, through to workplace benefits, such as the ability to better understand health and safety regulations, for example.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland has commissioned research on language and introductory courses provided by governments overseas to migrants in their countries and we will be publicly launching the findings of the research soon.
It is our hope the Government can use this research to help develop best practice in this area for Ireland.
The council urges the Government to introduce English-language and introductory courses for migrants as it implements immigration and integration policy reforms. - Yours, etc,
DENISE CHARLTON, CEO, Immigrant Council of Ireland, 2 St Andrew Street, Dublin 2.