Door
shuts for migrants
Saturday August 26th 2006
Work permit plan to restrict Bulgarian and Romanian workers
THE Government is planning to close the door to thousands of foreign workers looking to move here next year.
The Irish Independent has learned the State wants to end its open-door policy for migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania.
Thousands of workers from the two EU accession states had been expected to move here once they became full members of the EU in January 2007.
Now, however, government sources have revealed Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Justice Minister Michael McDowell plan to introduce specific work-permits for nationals from the two new EU member states.
"The standard of living in Bulgaria and Romania is so far below the other access countries we would be swamped by workers seeking jobs here," a source said.
The Fianna Fail/PD coalition is wary of a voter backlash which they fear would be sparked by a fresh influx of foreign workers.
The ban on Romanians and Bulgarians working here would not affect the position of migrant workers from Poland and the Baltic States.
Almost 100,000 Polish workers are estimated to be already living here.
The Government's move is a stark reversal of its position when it rebuked other EU member states for refusing open access to workers from the 10 accession states who joined in May 2004.
In May, Mr Ahern said: "We'll have to eventually look at Bulgaria and Romania but I'd rather see my colleagues being a bit more advanced."
Ireland, Britain and Sweden were the only countries that allowed workers from accession states to freely seek work in 2004.
To date, Finland is the only EU member to publicly announce it will allow Bulgarian and Romanian workers full access to jobs.
News of the plan comes after the Irish Independent exclusively revealed yesterday government plans to introduce ID cards for non-nationals as part of a blitz on illegal immigration.
Mr Ahern and Mr McDowell are currently fine-tuning a landmark "one-stop" immigration law to be brought to Cabinet before the Dail resumes next month.
The measures are modelled on tough US immigration laws.
They will oblige all non-EU nationals to carry bio-metric ID cards.
The Refugee Appeals Tribunal is also to be scrapped and a single law called the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, will be introduced to replace all existing asylum legislation.
Labour Justice spokesman Brendan Howlin last night expressed concern that non-nationals forced to carry ID cards would be singled out.
"I have said on a number of occasions that there was a need for a rational discussion on the case for the introduction of a national identity card," he said.
"But I would be reluctant to go down the road of insisting that only one section of Irish society should be required to carry such a card."
Political observers are likely to see the move as a cynical pre-election ploy as political parties acknowledge that immigration is becoming a big topic on the doorsteps.
Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness signalled difficulties for Bulgarian and Romanian job-seekers in Ireland in June.
She said: "The clear implication from the Taoiseach was that the decision about the free movement of citizens from Romania and Bulgaria would depend on what other member states, notably the UK, did in this regard."
There has been a growing campaign in Britain to deny access to workers from the two countries.
Sam Smyth and Ciaran Byrne
© Irish Independent
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & http://www.unison.ie/
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
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