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

India has been pressing for greater access for its IT services, skilled workers, and easier mobility as part of trade talks with the EU, it's obviously going to be way more advantageous to them given the vast regulatory and wage differences between the two.

This places Ireland in a uniquely exposed and perilous position. Our economy is dominated by multinational tech and pharma firms, and the absence of a language barrier makes Ireland an obvious first destination for Indian nationals.

While this arrangement clearly benefits Indian professionals and large employers here, the costs are being pushed onto Irish workers and communities already under severe strain. Since 2023, approximately 2,000 Indian nationals have been moving to Ireland every month, driven by tech roles, healthcare jobs, and international students. With this deal, those numbers are almost certain to accelerate, and further intensifying pressure on wages, public services, and an already catastrophic housing market.

Had an Indian lad looking to rent a room in a house last year, he included a list of his qualifications and salary when he replied to the ad, he had 2 pharma/chemistry degrees from India and a masters in management from a college in London, and a few years work experience in the UK, he was starting a job here locally for 38,000 a year gross for a very profitable Irish company, poor lookout for young grads competing with that

Well it counter acts those trying to derail or play the race card .

Will this lead to more Indians coming here or Indians working here moving to India? Depending on how this goes it could have a major impact on our demographics.

It will most definitely mean more Indians coming here. This is a quote from Ursula von der Leyen:

We both know: Our greatest wealth is our people. That is why I am glad that we are signing an agreement on mobility. We will facilitate the movement of students, researchers, seasonal and highly skilled workers. This is also why we are launching the first EU Legal Gateway Office in India. It will be a one-stop hub to support Indian talent moving to Europe, in full alignment with EU Member States' needs and policies. This is good for our economies. This is good for the friendship between our people. This openness benefits us all.

Half a million in the context of Spain's population is the equivalent of around 55,700 here. In the last decade and a half, we've granted citizenship by residency to four times that number of people. Plenty more in the pipeline.

My understanding of the mobility part of the EU deal with India is that it's primarily students and professors?

With the US now on a full crackdown on immigration and education (seemingly), there's been talk of a brain drain from the US of foreign students from places like India, China and South East Asia for the past year.

I know Europe has been targeting these smart young people for a while, maybe they're striking now while the iron is hot? I know that means a good few lower paid workers will likely come here as well taking lower paid jobs, but am I right in thinking it's more geared towards the educated side of things rather than have them going to American universities than an open borders situation?

India might be a third world country in many ways, but in other ways it is definitely advancing fast (due to become the 4th strongest economy in the world this year, and grow). So in general, it's another step away form the US as well, and gives the EU a stronger hand in future negotiations with the US. Given the last year of carry on from the US, this might be a move towards more locked down trade and co-operation than the "things change every few hours depending on the mood of Trump" the EU has been dealing with for the past year from the US.

Like a lot of things, it's going to have benefits and downsides.

And like a lot of problems, it can be sorted with the government investing in accommodation. Half the problems in this country are down to the ridiculous prices for accommodation through sheer greed and over-regulation leading to shortage, leading to rising prices. Sort that out, it goes a long way to making things better all round.

My partner and I met an Indian lad in the pub one day. Very educated guy he was – IT related. He told us he was working in a call center in Dublin and earning something like €28,000. I was shocked that someone so educated was in such a low paying job. My partner reckoned from the way he was speaking about home was he was from a wealthy family, and they were more than likely supporting him (my partner works in IT and would be familiar with people from India). Can’t remember kind of visa he was on but it did allow him to work here (think he may also have been studying here or just completed his studies). My partner took his number in case a suitable role came up in his company as he was a dead sound lad.

It may be good for big businesses, but it’s definitely not good for workers when someone so educated can only get a job in a call center on minimum wage. If business can get people like that to work for such low wages, it’s only going to continue to suppress wages. It will also soon become a requirement to have a degree to work in a call centre.

It’s especially not good for Irish workers, if we can attract the richest and the brightest from a pool of 1 billion people to come in here to our small country and undercut Irish workers. I think Indian are immigrants in the main are great, but we’re really only getting started on them arriving to our shores - seems like it’s exploded in the last 3 years or so. The sheer numbers coming here over the next few years have the potential to be massive and that only serves to suppress wages and drive the cost of housing up. It certainly doesn't benefit the average worker.

I went back to college to do a CS Master's a few years ago. Probably half my class were from India. Generally they were nice young people but every single one of them that I got to know had at least 2-3 years industry experience back home. So it undoubtedly is hard for a young inexperienced graduate to compete in that situation.

How many different languages can shamozzle be translated to

When a foreign student completes a post-graduate program they can apply for a two-year work permit (which can be renewed indefinitely).

Spain is ruled by Marxists. If Labour and the Social Democrats were in charge, they'd be pushing for a similar sort of asylum seeker amnesty.