Right to Work as a Tool for the Protection and Integration of Migrants in Ireland

by

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my family, friends, my colleagues and my supervisors who helped me in completing this dissertation. I would also like to thank all the participants who took part in the surveys and provided me with the authentic data.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

In 1996 Irish society witnessed a dramatic shift in its long-standing history and production as a nation of emigrants. That year marked a tipping point, one of the few moments in a 200-year period when the number of migrants entering Ireland outweighed the number of people leaving the country, with a net inflow of 8,000 people. A review of theories of international migration may help in explaining Ireland's post-war migration patterns. Since the introduction of the new Industrial Trainee System in 1994, the Irish government had maintained a two-tiered labour migration system in which it officially imported trainees while condoning the employment of undocumented migrants. Under this system, trainees were not legitimate workers and undocumented migrant workers were not legitimate residents, thus they both were exposed to a highly exploitative situation without proper protection. However, as shown in the protests by undocumented migrants and runaway trainees, migrant workers in Ireland began to claim their rights as workers with the support of civil society groups and migrant advocacy organizations. The Irish government should also take an active interest in providing (or subsidizing) the necessary technology, training and vocational facilities~ and funding necessary to ensure a high quality, modern, up to date, educational training program so that its students will be well-prepared for those jobs and careers which are in demand. A final policy recommendation needs to address the issue of how Ireland will deal with the reduction or cessation of EU infrastructural and economic development funds once the EU Commission decides to provide funding to other ED countries it determines to be in greater need of financial assistance.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

ABSTRACTiv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

The Tiger and the Tipping Point3

Economic prosperity5

Aims and objectives6

Research questions6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Migration, Borders, and Belonging7

Theorizing Irish Migration Patterns9

Dual Labour Market Theory12

Network Theory14

Immigrant assimilation20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY24

Search Technique25

Inclusion and exclusion criteria26

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION27

Multinational Corporations34

Proposals for New Labour Migration System36

Orientation towards labour migration40

Orientation towards immigrant integration41

Equal treatment43

Levelling the playing field43

Equal opportunity44

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION45

Policy Recommendations45

BIBLIOGRAPHY51

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Over the past two centuries Ireland's renowned has been as an emigrant nation, but since 1996, and associated with rapid economic growth, Ireland has emerged as an immigrant receiving nation. Migration in any geographic setting raises issues regarding space and place, identity and belonging. In Ireland, the gendered character of migration further nuances these issues as, for most of the 20th century, migration by women ...