Trade unions underestimated the scale of immigration the enlargement of the EU in the Nice treaty would produce, a conference was told yesterday.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary David Begg said the unions didn't regret their stance in favour of the treaty during the referendum in 2001, and the consequent enlargement of the EU to include 10 new countries, mostly in Eastern Europe.
However, he added: "We have to admit that we underestimated the push-pull factors that subsequently attracted people here." He was speaking at a conference on Catholic social thought organised by the Conference of Religious of Ireland (Cori) justice department.
The evidence available at the time, based on the previous entry into the EU of Spain, Portugal and Greece, suggested that migration overall would be small and negligible for Ireland given its peripheral location, Mr Begg said.
"What essentially undermined that analysis was a combination of Ireland's decision not to avail of the derogation contained in the Nice treaty to open up its labour market and the opposite decision by the other 12 countries to do so."
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) had also forecast relatively modest immigration, he pointed out, ranging from 5,000 in 2004 to 19,000 in 2006. The actual figure for immigration the year to April 2005 was 53,400, and this has continued to increase.
High immigration in recent years had led to claims that Irish workers' wages are being undercut and, in some cases, their jobs displaced.
Yesterday, Mr Begg said the trade unions were offering employers and Government a bargain.
"We retain the principle of labour mobility but it must be on our terms. Our terms will require the protection of indigenous and non-Irish nationals alike from exploitation and displacement. The measures we propose will not offend against genuine economic efficiency but they will invoke an equal commitment to social justice."
Mr Begg said people no longer had a value system or reference point against which they could critically evaluate global trends. While displaying all the attributes of individualism and consumerism, they still felt uneasy about the enormous growth of corporate power in a globalised world, and the diminution of social solidarity.
He noted that many church organisations were strong advocates of social justice.
Prof Charles Clark of St John's University, New York, told the conference there was a growing realisation in advanced capitalist societies that economic growth did not necessarily bring human happiness. "This sense of 'Is that all there is?' is particularly evident in Ireland where the experience of prosperity has been much more truncated than in other countries," Prof Clark said.
Cori director Fr Seán Healy said Government and others making policy should articulate the values that underpin proposals and be prepared to debate them before proposals are adopted.
