Immigration and Ireland - MEGATHREAD *Read OP for mod warnings before posting*

You said population increase is the main driver of the housing crisis. You then agreed that immigration is the main driver of population increase. But now it’s suddenly not the cause of the housing crisis?

Why can’t you just admit that the crisis is the intersection of both an under supply of new housing that the government has failed to build as well as an excessive increase in the basal demand, due to an increase in immigration coupled with an enormous increase in irregular immigration?

Someone mentioned land hoarders as a problem, I think hoarders should be given medals, let's destroy more land to house workers from abroad for jobs we can't fulfill seems to be the norm

Interesting report from RTE -There were 55 critical incidents in accommodation provided for asylum seekers last year, with seven ending in the death of residents

Im total amazed RTE are reporting this

www.rte.ie/news/2025/0407/1506335-ipas-centre-critical-incidents/

When people can't even acknowledge that immigration over a long period of time is the reason for the housing crisis, it's no wonder the country hasn't had sensible policies.

Some people think you are racist for making the most banal of observations.

You never did explain what the lesson we should learn from brexit was.

Meanwhile, the environment is being degraded.

Water courses, rivers, lakes.. all at record levels of pollution.

Knowing RTE, it's to garner support for more money to be pumped into the ipas system and for them to get their own accommodation quicker.

The report mentions 33k in the system and the lack of services, particularly mental health, for the ipas residents. Just another example of the strains on services in the country while there is contuined denial that the country is full, and unable to cope with unsustainable mass immigration.

Ireland’s taking in about 80,000 people a year through net migration—some skilled, some low-skilled, according to the Central Statistics Office’s 2024 figures. For a small country of 5.5 million, that’s a lot to chew on, and it’s got people fretting about where it’s all headed.

Here’s the math: 80,000 new folks means 80,000 homes needed every year just to keep up. With Ireland’s housing mess—rents through the roof and locals scrambling—that’s a tall order. GPs and hospitals? Add 80,000 more patients to waiting lists that already hit 700,000 in 2023. Power, roads, transport—all that’s gotta grow too, and it doesn’t come cheap. Plus, more people means more carbon emissions, piling onto a footprint we’re supposed to be trimming.

Now, the low-skilled chunk of that 80,000—they’re the real worry. They’re more likely to lean on welfare, like housing supports or unemployment cash, which stretches a small tax base thin. And here’s the kicker: poverty often follows low skills, and poverty can nudge people toward crime. Look at the UK—places like Manchester’s Moss Side or parts of Birmingham with high poverty and low skills have long been hotspots for theft and violence. Stats back it up: the UK’s Office for National Statistics shows crime rates in the poorest areas—like the bottom 10% income brackets—can be double those in richer spots. Why? No jobs, no hope, and folks get desperate. In Ireland, Gardaí data shows violent crimes—assaults, robberies—up 10% from 2022 to 2023. We don’t have a perfect breakdown tying that to low-skilled newcomers, but the pattern’s clear: when skills are scarce, poverty creeps in, and some turn to breaking the law to get by.

That’s all before you count the Irish already here, needing more schools, homes, and doctors just to keep life ticking. The CSO says non-Irish citizens hit 15.5% in 2024, up from 12% in 2022. Add in those who’ve taken citizenship, and it’s closer to 25%.

It’s not about turning people away; it’s about limits. A small country can only stretch so much—housing, health, crime, identity—before it starts to fray. What do you think—can Ireland bend this far without breaking?

Mod edit:

post snipped to remove the references to the ethnic Irish, as there is an in thread mod note to move on from that point.

Seems to me like your saying the key lesson is to be aware of the bullshit anti immigrant grifters peddle.

Which I could agree is a valuable lesson many on this thread could learn.

80,000 people still does not mean 80,000 homes.

The 2022 census puts the average household at 2.74 people per home. That would require 29,000 homes for 80,000 people.

So there were technically enough homes built last year to house 30,000 returning Irish and 50,000 non Irish immigrants.

Now obviously that's to the absolute line and isn't ideal in the slightest but it's a far cry from stating we need 80,000 homes to meet the demand of immigration alone.

It’s not simplistic, it’s simple - it is supply and demand, and their interaction, that sets price.

Lots I would do differently, off the top of my head.
Anyone presenting without documents or from a safe country are not allowed liberty of the country for the duration of their application being processed until approval (makes chancing your arm less attractive). Anyone committing a crime while seeking asylum, deny and deport. Anyone given leave to remain are not eligible for social housing for the first 5 years and only thereafter with proof of employment for 3 of those years. If you are not granted refugee status but are given leave to remain and cannot support yourself beyond direct provision within 12 months, deport. Increased policing at our ports and airports (beyond the current token effort) and more cross-border cooperation with the PSNI.

I didn’t say anywhere that 80,000 homes are required for 80,000 people.

Right anyway so pretty much our entire housing output for the year is just about sufficient to cover the demands from immigration? Thank you for illustrating my point for me

Good thing nobody else in the whole country needs to live anywhere!

Between 1998 & 2008, there were 660,000 homes built in Ireland. We most certainly need to build more.