A chara, - Frank Falls (June 20th) is entirely correct when he says that emigration can be good for emigrants themselves, their children, and their host country. He is incorrect, however, when he claims that the home country of the emigrants also benefits.
Those who emigrate, as Mr Falls notes, are usually the young, the energetic and the ambitious. They are also frequently well educated, as recent Irish experience has shown. As such, their prospects in the host country are bright.
Against this, however, must be measured the effect of the loss of such people to the home country. Far from relieving the burden of poverty in the home country, the loss of young, energetic and educated people contributes to the continued poverty and underdevelopment of those countries. If losing such people "so affords the country the best opportunity of breaking out of the cycle of poverty and achieving an affluent economy", as Mr Falls claims, why did rural Ireland bemoan the loss of generations of its youth, and why are the western counties not richer than the Dublin area?
The effort that a poor country must make to produce a doctor, an engineer or a nurse is much greater than that needed in Ireland. If that doctor, engineer or nurse then takes that skill to Ireland, either as an illegal immigrant or as an invited solution to our skills shortage, there is only loss to the home country, which no longer has the use of the skills for which it has paid. If, as seems to be the case, emigrants are predominantly of working age, then the home country will suffer from an increased dependency ratio, while we selfishly use immigrants to reduce our dependency ratio. If, as Mr Falls suggests, the migrants will return to their home countries at the end of their working lives, then the underdeveloped healthcare systems in those countries will suffer from an increased burden, while Ireland's load is lightened.
In short, if Ireland actively seeks young and energetic immigrants from poorer countries, it is robbing those countries of a key resource that they need to develop and grow. By recruiting people with skills it is also robbing those countries of the investments they have made to acquire those skills.
The current enthusiasm for permitting certain skilled immigrants to come to Ireland must be seen for what it is: yet another attempt by a rich, Western country to exploit the resources of poorer countries, thus condemning them to continued poverty. - Is mise,
Ian Livingstone, Brussels, Belgium.