Government ministers have rejected assertions that they were “asleep at the wheel” over sustainably managing migration.
Immigration has emerged as a key issue in the general election campaign ahead of polling day on Friday.
In a debate on RTE’s Upfront focused on the matter, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said immigration is a “good thing for this country” as people come to work and study.
The Fine Gael deputy leader said inward migration is needed to ensure increased housing delivery, essential services in healthcare, and other sectors.
She defended the current immigration system as rules-based.
Ms McEntee said: “If somebody is coming and applying for a work permit, the job has to be there.
“If somebody is coming in here as a student, we’re very clear that you are coming to study, that you are not coming here to work, that you’re not coming to use the study visa.”
She added that “by and large” most people agree that migration has been a positive for the country.
Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said there was “no doubt” that many migrants make really positive contributions to Ireland.
However, the opposition politician accused the Government of being “asleep at the wheel” by not keeping immigration at what he characterised as sustainable levels.
Mr Toibin said “we have to start looking at” how many permits are provided to non-essential workers.
Integration minister and Green leader Roderic O’Gorman said blocking off links to other countries would be “fundamentally a wrong approach for an open economy” like Ireland.
He accused Mr Toibin of having a “deeply divisive” proposal.
Fianna Fail representative James Browne, who is the junior minister in the Department of Justice, said the country’s economy is “booming” in ICT and foreign direct investment.
He added: “Shutting down effectively any work permit coming for foreign direct investment will be absolutely, I think, counterproductive and, quite frankly, hypocritical as well.
“We do need people coming into this country. It’s at full employment and it helps our economy and our society to grow.”
Michael Fitzmaurice of Independent Ireland said most people have “no problems whatsoever” on people coming in on permits.
However, he said there is a problem around the “complicated permit system”.
Sinn Fein director of elections Matt Carthy said there was an “irony” in doctors and nurses who qualified here having emigrated to the “far side of the globe” over conditions in Ireland.
Mr Carthy said the Government was overseeing crises in housing, health and migration.
“What we want to do is put in place a system of rules that are clearly understood and clearly enforced that ensures that there is confidence for everyone involved.”
He added: “We need to have a managed migration system that ensures that those sectors that need employees are able to access them in a way that doesn’t actually burden the overstretched services that we have, that doesn’t actually add to our housing crisis that we already have.
“So we have to be cognisant of all of that and recognise the value of people who are coming here and maintaining our health services and other essential services.”