Migrant workers do not contribute to the economy: FG Cllr

[kerrynorth]

Cllr Jim Long of Limerick City Council:

Cllr Jim Long, yesterday accused the Government of opening the floodgates to migrant workers.

The Fine Gael member of Limerick City Council said immigrant workers had transferred hundreds of millions of euro out of the country.

“The vast majority of migrant workers have not contributed to the city. They have the opportunity to leave the country at will, but 60% of the workers at Dell have mortgages and these are the people we have to protect,” he said.

Irish Examiner | Irish News | News from Ireland

The blinkers are well and truly starting to come off the whole 'isn't all this mass immigration great' line we have been subjected to for the last number of years. Knowing FG's infinite ability to shoot itself in the foot I am sure Cllr Long can expect to be disciplined and possibly expelled from the party. But what should worry the political party's is that Cllr Long is only articulating what the vast majority of the public think.

[sandar]

the mans an idiot. He obviously sat down and thought I have to say something about Dell, and thats the best he could come up with.........idiot

[meriwether2]

I hope the man's disciplined, and then expelled.
Imbecile.

[JCSkinner]

So, when you're all done with shooting the messenger, how will you address the substance of the message?

[constitutionus]

lol.

its not like it was his partys policy to allow it throught its support of NICE and how it was implemented eh?

i seem to remember a mainstream party wide omerta on the subject back then.

ya gotta love these guys ,they take ignorance to whole new levels.

[Munion]

Sad to say but that little outburst will probably help him to keep his seat come the summer elections.

[TradCat]

I think it's a big mistake to expel someone for speaking their mind. Why not debate him properly.

What he misses is that Dell would probably have left years ago because of labour shortages if we didn't have immigration.

That us being part of Europe is one of the reasons they came in the first place

That immigrants leaving will reduce the pressure locally and is a good and natural thing.

[Duth Ealla]

And so it begins is right. If only we had an actual immigration policy in this country then we could judge whether it was beneficial or not.

Hoever its our resort to emigration as a policy instrument that has the potential to make things nasty here. If Irish citizens are emigrating while immigration remains strong then that will be an issue.

However I fear that true to fashion there will be no discussion based on facts only a fear of foreigners on one side and then the chorus of boo boys on the other who label everyone who disagrees with them a racist. Both sides are as bad as the other. They are both idiots.

Sandar, Meriwether2,

Your counter arguments using facts and explicit reasoning are welcome additions to any debate. You disagree with the man but either (a) cant explain why or (b) dont know why. Care to elaborate why?

[corelli]

So, when you're all done with shooting the messenger, how will you address the substance of the message?

Simply,

Economic migrants or migrant workers have to live here. They rent or buy property, they buy groceries, the pay utility bills etc etc. Their spare money goes home. So what, if they had put it in the bank it would be f@@@@d now. And the Irish got fecked out of America during the depression because they were sending their remittances home did they?

The guy talking nonsense.

[Aindriu]

Corelli, you missed the facts that they buy clothes, household items etc and go out and socialise. This councillor is a dinosaur and should be booted out of FG. His parents and/or grandparents probably lived and worked in the UK at some point.