Local authorities were yesterday urged to adopt long-term integration policies, such as the provision of languages courses and housing for migrants, to help avoid the emergence of marginalised communities of foreign nationals.
The mayor of Stuttgart, Dr Wolfgang Schuster, said Irish towns and cities could learn from the German city's experience of coping with large scale immigration. Stuttgart, where immigrants account for around 22 per cent of the population, is regarded by many experts as a successful model of integration.
He said long-term policies such as public housing, education and cultural diversity programmes, which took account of the needs of foreign nationals, were vital for promoting positive integration. Such policies would allow Irish towns and cities to harness the full economic potential of migrant communities.
"It costs money to integrate people but what is the alternative? There is no alternative because if you do nothing for integration, that's the most costly decision you can take. You have a lot of social problems, social tensions and you are losing a lot of jobs, money and investment," said Dr Schuster, a Christian Democrat politician and founder of a pro-integration alliance in Germany.
He was speaking at the launch of a network to improve the integration of immigrants in 25 European cities which is backed by groups such as the EU-funded European Foundation, the Council of Europe and the City of Stuttgart.
The network was launched in Dublin yesterday by Dr Schuster, Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Vincent Jackson and Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
Minister Roche said the integration of migrants into society will be one of the most important social issues facing the country over the next few decades.
"We cannot afford simply to have a multicultural society and to leave it at that. We must ensure [ we have] an intercultural society where different cultures speak to each other, listen to each other and enrich each other in the context of a common aspiration to promote the welfare and values of a new Irish society," Mr Roche said.
The city network is being run by the Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
Among the first issues it will study will be housing supply for immigrants in Dublin, Stuttgart and the 23 other cities. The foundation's research officer Hubert Krieger said housing for migrants would be a major challenge for the Government here, which already has more than 40,000 families on housing waiting lists.
"There may be obvious competitive issues with other disadvantaged groups in Irish society who are waiting for a long time for housing. And that is not easy to handle on the political side," he said.