The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has opposed the introduction of a work permits system for EU citizens working in Ireland. "Borders should be open. It's what the entire EU exercise is about," he said last night.
Speaking at the Pro-Cathedral Dublin following a "Festival of Peoples" Mass, he said: "We need workers. We need managed migration, but people are not just economic units. They may realise their dignity through work, but that dignity doesn't evaporate when they have no work."
He was responding to a query from The Irish Times as to his response to comments by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte earlier this week on immigration policy.
In an interview with The Irish Times Mr Rabbitte called for a reassessment of immigration policy, but put the emphasis on the displacement of Irish workers. "The time may be coming when we will have to sit down and examine whether we would have to look at whether a work permits regime ought to be implemented in terms of some of this non-national labour, even for countries in the European Union," Mr Rabbitte said.
Ireland's immigration policy "should not be reactive or somehow suspicious of people, but should be welcoming and integrating in the best sense of the word", Archbishop Martin said in his homily last night.
He called for "the elaboration of an open, transparent, modern and enlightened national migration policy".
His comments follow a call by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev John Neill, in his New Year message, for immigrants who have been here for more than five years to be allowed stay.
In his homily yesterday evening, Archbishop Martin said he supported "the suggestion of my Church of Ireland colleague and friend, Archbishop John Neill, that people who have lived peacefully and have made a decent life for themselves and their children in Ireland for a five-year period should now have the opportunity to have their status here regularised. Similar measures have been taken in many European Union states over the years."
However, "in the long-term the real solution is not to be found in just regularising situations of the past, but through the elaboration of an open, transparent, modern and enlightened national migration policy," he said.
"Such a policy should not be reactive or somehow suspicious of people, but should from the beginning be welcoming and integrating in the best sense of the word."
Much had been done in Ireland to ensure that immigrants were not subjected to economic exploitation or other unfair disadvantage, he said, while emphasising that "the norms that are in place should be pursued vigorously. Abuses should be vigorously prosecuted. Short-term advantage should not be the supreme norm in economic activity.
"Lower labour costs are indeed a significant factor in giving vitality to an economy, but it is people themselves who are the driving force of a modern, knowledge-based economy and it is above all in enhancing human capacity and fostering partnership that we really enhance sustainable economic growth."
He said it should be remembered that a migration policy is not only about legislative frameworks or what happens at our borders. "It would be foolish to think that the integration of a large number of migrants will be a simple process which will develop by itself.
"A climate of welcome will require social ownership of the entire process and signs of tension or rejection should be tackled as soon as they appear," he said. "We need to encourage cultural diversity but also to avoid the creation, or simply the emergence in our society, of ghettoes of ethnic groups who are disadvantaged and frustrated.
"Experience in other countries has shown how such situations can be exploited in a manner which brings benefit to no one."
Dr Martin said the education system was playing a "vital role" in this integration process, not least in the Dublin archdiocese which, in his experience, was "doing great work". However, additional support was necessary, in some cases, urgently.
"Schools with a large ethnic mix require special support so that each child, and the members of each ethnic group, can be assisted to realise their educational potential fully and that no group is left behind or marginalised," Dr Martin said. He recalled that "in difficult times, the Irish travelled to every corner of the globe in search for work".