An international expert on migration has warned that the Government needs to become more focused on the importance of integration if it is to become a successful country of immigration.
Demitrios Papademetrious, president of the US-based Migration Policy Institute, said Government plans to regulate immigration appeared to place too much emphasis on dealing with "perceived threats" rather than integrating immigrants into society.
Mr Papademetrious, who advises government officials on migration issues in nearly 20 countries, is due to speak at a public lecture organised by the Immigrant Council of Ireland this evening on the lessons to be learned from other countries' experience of migration.
He said the Government had a chance to think comprehensively about immigration now rather than later by taking steps to provide for the integration of immigrants into society.
The dangers of not helping ethnic minorities or immigrants to form part of the community would create problems of polarised communities in the future.
Measures such as language training, education and healthcare were critical to helping immigrants feel part of society, as well as longer-term measures such as levels of civic and political engagement.
"These are services that are needed, but I don't see them as fully fleshed out as some of the control measures in the legislation," he told The Irish Times in an interview yesterday.
"If you are going to build up an immigration system why not prepare the schools, why not prepare the hospitals."
He warned against an official policy of multiculturalism in Ireland which could undermine cohesion and the sense of community. Mulitculturalism, with its emphasis on diversity, non-judgmentalism and funding of minority groups, would build an "industry" around special interests.
An emphasis on assimilation or the one-way adoption of Irish social and cultural values by immigrants was not advisable as it acted more as a barrier than a facilitator of integration.
He said a policy of integration grounded on equity and mutuality or a "two-way integration" model would work best. These allowed immigrants to thrive best in a socially and politically-supportive environment which would allow them to change most of their social and cultural traditions at their own pace.
The benefits of investing intelligently in integration were that the State could expect greater social, political and economic returns from immigration.
Mr Papademetrious added that the Government needed to act now as immigrations would continue to increase in the years ahead given population trends.
He said Ireland would also need to adapt a flexible model for immigration as the nature of it would change. The source of labour from EU accession countries would eventually dry up as they become more prosperous.
Mr Papademetrious is also meeting with Ictu members and non-governmental organisations during his Irish visit this week.
