The notion that Pat Rabbitte is playing the "race card" is plain ludicrous and Micheál Martin's suggestions that he is doing so for electoral advantage are not true. Vincent Browne's accusation that that Rabbitte is sending a coded message: “Keep out the blacks and the Polacks – vote Labour” is worse again. Nevertheless perhaps the issue was not raised in the wisest way. Socialist TD Joe Higgins has a point when he says that the answer is not to raise a call for work permits, which give further powers to bosses to exploit. The answer, he says, is for the trade union movement to launch a militant strategy to flush out cheap labour employers. Dan O'Brien of the Economist intelligence Unit makes a related point when he says that the best way to make sure that migrant workers are not exploited is to ensure rigorous enforcement of existing laws and regulations and more onerous penalties for employers who flout them.
Noel Whelan in the Irish Examiner criticises the fact the Rabbitte raises the work permits issue without giving a clear indication of where he stands on it:
On Morning Ireland last week he was pressed repeatedly about why he was saying it “may” be necessary to introduce these work permits. He was asked whether, in his view, the introduction of work permits or other restrictions would be justified in the short or medium term. In response, Rabbitte repeatedly prevaricated. All he was saying was that the issue should be “examined”. When pressed further he argued that it was a matter that should be dealt with in the context of the forthcoming social partnership talks. “I imagine it will be looked at there,” he said. Rabbitte cannot be left to enjoy the luxury of simply calling for a debate. That’s a comfort zone in which commentators or columnists can dwell.
On the Labour Party website you can see a picture of Jim Larkin and another of a group of people behind a banner which says "equal rights for all workers". Underneath is a small paragraph quoting Rabbitte calling for work permits to be "considered" and links to his appearances on Saturday View and Questions and Answers. Whelan wonders how his remarks went down with "the more liberal or politically correct end of his party's support base".
On the wider issue of the impact of migrant labour most commentators seem to agree that in the longer term the whole economy will benefit and that economic growth is strong enough to absorb and sustain it. Brendan Keenan in today's Independent remarks
The simple economic fact is that, for the country as a whole, there is no displacement of Irish people from jobs. On the contrary, Irish citizens are getting jobs in unprecedented numbers. In the three sectors which have most foreign workers - building, retailing and hospitality - employment increased by 14pc, 6pc and 4pc respectively last year. Funny sort of displacement.
Obviously some people have lost jobs through a displacement effect but taken as a whole this is not the case. There is a lot of confusion here and more data needs to be gathered so a closer study on the impact of immigration on the labour market can be carried out. Only then could resources for training and re-skilling be properly targeted at those in the firing line, so in that sense the Labour leader is right to say the issue should be "examined".
I think Rabbitte did play the race card and got away with it.
Posted by: the saint | January 13, 2006 at 09:38 PM