TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has said more workplace inspections will be carried out under plans to clamp down on illegal work and illegal migration.
He said he intends to make a number of changes to Ireland’s immigration policies in order to inject a “common sense” approach which he believes “has been lacking”.
Among these, Harris said, will be a fresh look at “welfare consistency” and the contribution that people who have asylum seeker status in Ireland should make to accommodation.
“Migration is a good thing. What is not a good thing is not having a consistent, coherent approach to it,” he said.
Harris made the comments during an interview on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk this morning.
In recent months, migration has remained a dominating topic in Ireland as the Government fail to accommodate all those seeking asylum in the state.
The latest figures from the Department of Integration show that there are 1,715 asylum seekers without accommodation in the state.
Last week, approximately 100 tents belonging to asylum seekers were cleared from Dublin’s Grand Canal and railings were put up in their place to prevent further tents being pitched.
When asked this morning if he is unhappy with voluntary organisations and charities continuing to provide homeless asylum seekers with tents, Harris said he is not and that these organisations are doing their best to provide humanitarian assistance.
“What I am frustrated about is the siloed system in relation to migration policy. I’m about 34 or 35 days as Taoiseach of this country and I’m absolutely determined that we get a grip of this.
“And what does a grip of this mean? It means that we actually have a system that people in this country understand and a system in this country that people who come here understand.
“That we have a coordinated response, that we don’t just everyday talk about accommodation and tents, but that we also talk about the social welfare system and how that interacts. We talked about accommodation costs and what’s a fair contribution somebody should make towards accommodation, when they have status.”
Harris added that we need to talk about “consistency of approach” to people from Ukraine also.
He said Ireland has done a “huge amount” for Ukraine and said he is proud of that but that the level of support a person from Ukraine gets shouldn’t depend on what month they arrived.
