BERNARD CANTILLON,
Madam, - Early in 2002 the Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn attacked those in a desperate situation seeking asylum in Ireland. Now he is going after those legally here on work permits (The Irish Times, December 28th).
I was hoping that the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, would take him aside and explain that this country needs skilled workers from outside the European Union to fill many jobs or else they will be lost to the Irish economy. Many of these skills cannot be matched by FÁS trainees, whatever Mr. O'Flynn may think.
We need people at the other end of the salary scale to fill the jobs that Irish people will not do - the jobs that hover around the miserly minimum wage of €6.35 per hour, which the government he supports is not increasing further, because of "competitiveness". Maybe he should exert some energy on making these low-paid jobs more attractive to Irish workers by calling for a substantial increase in the minimum wage.
Immigrants are not a problem. Rather they are an asset in a country which for many decades has been underpopulated. People working legally within the system are to be applauded for making a contribution to Irish society through their taxes. By living here they are spending here. Thus most of their wages are staying in the Irish economy.
Sadly, I fear that Mr O'Flynn is again playing to the lowest common denominator. Instead of trying to educate his constituents about the contribution of our new minorities in Ireland, he is trying to blame potential unemployment on them. At the last election, he and others, with mixed success, opened a can of worms that is very damaging for Ireland's future.
Last January, Bertie Ahern told him to stop talking about immigration. I urge the Taoiseach to tell him to shut up again! - Is mise,
BERNARD CANTILLON,
Equality Officer,
Union of Students in Ireland,
Dublin 2.