Stretta in vista sull'immigrazione dall'est?
L'Irlanda intende limitare gli arrivi dai Romania e Bulgaria, prossimi nuovi membri dell'Unione Europea.
E' un provvedimento che riguarda solo quei due paesi o il primo passo di un cambio di politica sull'immigrazione?
Dall'
Irish Examiner
Ireland slams door on new EU migrant workers
By Shaun Connolly, Political Correspondent
IRELAND last night slammed the door on new migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria.
Fears of job displacement and strains on the school system influenced the move.
Bowing to pressure from unions and business leaders, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin insisted the permit barrier tightly limiting immigration from the two impoverished nations would remain in place when they become full EU members in January.
He said Ireland needed to concentrate on integrating the workers from the 10 countries which joined the union in 2004.
“We’ve decided to take a cautious approach,” he said. “We want to consolidate the inflow to date and concentrate on the integration challenge.
“Education services are seeing increases in numbers attending without English. Housing is also an issue. However, bringing in a lot of people as we have done adds value to the economy.”
Some 267,000 PPS numbers have been issued to migrants from Poland and the other new EU nations in the past 30 months. There were 9,000 work permits given to nationals from those countries in 2003.
Ministers feared a similar expansion in numbers from the 2,410 Bulgarians and Romanians currently employed in the Republic.
Citizens from both nations will be able to travel and live in Ireland, but not to claim welfare benefits unless they have been in the Republic for two years.
Self-employed people will be able to set up business here without a permit.
The Irish Business and Employers’ Federation supported the restrictions, saying it was needed to allow time to assess the Republic’s “economic climate”.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said increased protection was needed for both Irish and foreign workers to overcome fears of job displacement and unfair treatment of migrants.
Green Party enterprise spokesman Eamon Ryan said the restrictions undermined the core EU principle of freedom of movement and insisted the Government must act to combat exploitation of foreigners.
“It is vital that ministers pay more than lip service to bringing about the meaningful inclusion of newcomers to our society,” he said.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte insisted severe restrictions were needed.
“Large-scale immigration has given rise to exploitation of migrant workers, displacement, and lower wages for some Irish workers,” he said.
Around 80,000 of the 267,000 people from the accession states issued with PPS numbers are believed to still be in Ireland. It is estimated less than 1,000 of them now claim benefits.
[Modificato da =Donegal= 25/10/2006 15.54]