Madam, – Regarding the claim by Fine Gael’s spokesman on immigration and integration Denis Naughten (“Language schools act as fronts for brothels”, June 19th) I find it incredible that he can make such a statement with no evidence whatsoever.
As one of the oldest English language schools in Ireland we are well used to being blamed for all manner of ills, from the annual “Spanish student” invasion to foreign students “taking all the jobs”, but this is the first time we are being blamed for prostitution.
The reality is that educational tourism is one of the few areas where significant growth can be achieved with simple changes of Government policy. The restrictive and parochial policies of the Irish Government regarding student visas simply results in millions of euro worth of business going to the UK and other competitor countries.
Money earned in another economy is brought into Ireland before being spent and distributed throughout the Irish domestic economy to host families, teachers, booksellers, guides, coach companies etc.
All these people or organisations then spend the money in their local shops, pay their own employees, suppliers, tax, etc, giving a classic economic multiplier effect that means the loss to Ireland’s economy is measured in multiples of millions of euro.
Considering the dire financial circumstances that we are constantly being reminded about, this can only be likened to the postman offering you free money and you deciding to stuff it in your neighbour’s letter box. – Yours, etc,