Immigration and Ireland - MEGATHREAD *Mod Note Added 02/09/25*

I.E Statistics are only good when they support foreigners..

To become a hospital consultant in Ireland, doctors are more or less expected to work abroad. Different for GPs, the real issue is not enough Irish doctors being trained to become GPs. Maybe there should be a GP medicine course ...

Still hard to get a consultancy in Ireland in tertiary hospitals.

Words like "collapse" are always difficult though because it means different things to different people. But the fact is that skill gaps in healthcare are often being filled by migrant healthcare staff and if they evaporated overnight this would be a pretty serious issue.

Part of the 'problem' — if one sees it as that way — is that 21st century migration for people from wealthy countries is remarkably easy versus any time in history. We have the education, we have the skills, we have the money. Add the fact that we are an island nation with a relatively dreary climate and if you're an Irish doctor or nurse then (even beyond the working conditions or cost of living) you have pretty good prospects to go off and experience the world — well it becomes clear that tackling the brain drain here is not straightforward.

Of course, mitigating the brain drain and maintaining good skill / talent / labour retention would eliminate one of the key factors of the argument for why immigration is needed — but note how none of the threads here ever really focus squarely on emigration or tackling it. It's always focused more precisely on foreign migrants.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/man-jailed-for-slashing-womans-face-in-random-unprovoked-attack-near-her-home-1728840.html

Another Irish citizen that has become a victim of our extremely lax policies

2 years for leaving her with life changing injuries - how was it not picked up that this man posed a potential danger to society? Because there are little to no controls or rigour involved in the processes to enter this country. A disgrace

There seems to have been little or no attempt to provide any oversight on how taxpayers money is spent on the IPAS system.

I posted in the previous thread a report from John Mooney, the Times crime and security correspondent about how Gardai were briefing that crime gangs were using the asylum system to launder money by setting up IPAS accommodation, or Italian mafia clans were skimming off contracts for feeding the applicants. I'm sure people found that very concerning. I wonder did Roddy O'Gorman, Helen McEntee or even Micheal Martin address this and even say "lessons will be learnt?"

Well, in a very concerning development, it seems that there is even less oversight in how the ever growing budget is spent. Now if someone did a search of publicly available company and HIQA documents among others and came up with a story involving a resident of an IPAS centre being a director of a company that was awarded millions in state contracts, was a director of other companies that owed approximately €150,000 to the Revenue Commissioners, and was able to buy hotels and million euro lodges in West Cork using shadow banking loans, would you be concerned or would you just dismiss it as conspiracy theory?

Well Nick Delahunty, of make crime illegal fame, has investigated the story and made it public. Thread here.

Where is the oversight and due dilligence? I thought if someone owed the Revenue Commissioners money they couldn't get a tax compliance cert, and couldn't get awarded any state contracts as a result? How can someone in emergency accommodation get government contracts to provide more emergency accommodation?

Would you want something like this investigated?

No doubt RTE, Newstalk, The Irish Times etc will be all over this, or not.

I just feel depressed after tread that. It's a scam. And folks that defend it so vigorously I say read that and come to your conclusion. I dont think there is anyway way back from all of this.

https://www.thejournal.ie/munich-car-6621628-Feb2025/

You’d really wonder at what point the EU will begin to reconsider that letting any randomer in with minimum checks and leaving them off to do what they will, isn’t always sensible.

Simon Harris was quick off the mark, he was "shocked". That other imbecile in charge will no doubt quickly follow up to condemn the attack.

All these people have are hollow useless words.

It's not always clear to me though what checks people would propose implementing that would supposedly eliminate any chance that any migrant allowed entry to the country could ever commit a serious crime.

Indeed, it more often comes across as one of those 'not-saying-what-you-actually-think' things sometimes — in that what people really seem to mean by this is that a particular demographic (be it foreign men, foreign Muslims, foreign Muslim men etc) simply should not be allowed in.

I say that because it isn't actually clear to me how anyone proposes that checks (in situations where it's not always straightforward to get criminal background data for various reasons — which can include the fact that a criminal or someone with criminal intent might still have no record whatsoever) can make certain of no future wrongdoing.

Don't let your dislike of the man cloud what is a very dubious conviction. The idea that the state just arrest people who are doing no harm, for just being in a public space is a shaky precedent to be setting.

Not to mention around 2 billion annually on Ukranians plus 770 million on foreign aid

https://www.ireland.ie/en/irish-aid/news-and-publications/latest-news/news-archive/ireland-boosts-foreign-aid-budget-by-60-million/

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said: “With the world facing ever greater challenges from the impact of climate change, conflict and food insecurity, I welcome the increase in Budget 2024 of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ development assistance budget.

“This increase will allow Ireland to reach more people, particularly those impacted by climate change and humanitarian crisis.

“The provision of an additional €42.5 million in climate finance ensures that we are on schedule to meet our commitment to provide at least €225 million per year in climate finance by 2025.”

Minister for International Development and Diaspora, Sean Fleming, added: “This increased commitment to development assistance will allow us to further strengthen Ireland’s response to hunger and malnutrition around the world.”

Based on current estimates, total Official Development Assistance (ODA) from across Government for 2024 will amount to €2 billion.