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 ...