FUNDING FOR integration remains "woefully inadequate" and must be increased if the Government is to fulfil its commitments in the area, a migrant group has said.
Aki Stavrou, director of Integrating Ireland, an umbrella organisation for migrant support groups, said he welcomed the publication last week of the Government's strategy statement on integration.
This was a policy area that had been neglected for too long, and Ireland had been fortunate not to have experienced some of the "extreme problems" of other countries, Mr Stavrou said.
"It is therefore particularly significant that funds are finally being made available to support future integration initiatives," he said. "However, if the Government is serious about meeting its integration objectives . . . then it will have to seriously review the fiscal resources it has made available to the Office of the Minister for Integration, for they remain woefully inadequate."
The Government strategy statement, published last week by Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan, identifies priority areas and makes observations on areas such as education and citizenship.
Among the four "key principles" of the policy is a "partnership approach" between Government and non-governmental organisations and a strong link between integration policy and wider social-inclusion strategies. There is also a commitment to create "effective local-delivery mechanisms" that align services for migrants with those for indigenous people.
The fourth principle is a policy focusing on avoiding the creation of "parallel societies, communities and urban ghettoes".
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said at the weekend that the integration of immigrants was one of the biggest challenges facing the State.
Mr Ahern observed that, when he took over as Taoiseach, 1.5 per cent of the workforce were "new Irish", whereas today the figure is 14.8 per cent. "We shouldn't see this as a problem, but we must see it as a challenge.
"The integration of so much of the nations of the world that now form this country, looking after the educations, the new religions, the welfare, the extraordinary talents that many of these people bring, but the challenges some of them bring, is going to be a big issue," he said on This Weekon RTÉ Radio 1.
