Foreign Workers

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racso

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I am currently getting in quotes for for a painting job on my house. I have had 3 people come and quote for the job. The first 2 made smart comments about employing "foreigners" and that immediately turned me against them and the 3rd guy was irish but employed a foreigner.

But having discussed it with a few friends and family members a number of people keep saying "give the job to the irish fellas"

It appears to me that there is a fear out their that the workmanship of foreign people is sub standard and i am not sure if this is just plan ignorence or a racsist view and secondly that they are taking irish jobs when they just seem to be doing it for a much better price.

I would welcome peoples views on the above and also on any workmanship problems.
 
racso said:
It appears to me that there is a fear out their that the workmanship of foreign people is sub standard
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I think their fear is that the work they'll do will be above standard!
 
racso said:
I am currently getting in quotes for for a painting job on my house. I have had 3 people come and quote for the job. The first 2 made smart comments about employing "foreigners" and that immediately turned me against them and the 3rd guy was irish but employed a foreigner.

But having discussed it with a few friends and family members a number of people keep saying "give the job to the irish fellas"

It appears to me that there is a fear out their that the workmanship of foreign people is sub standard and i am not sure if this is just plan ignorence or a racsist view and secondly that they are taking irish jobs when they just seem to be doing it for a much better price.

I would welcome peoples views on the above and also on any workmanship problems.
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Surely you have your own views on the matter and don't need to depend on others (those tendering for the job, family/friends, AAM contributors) to inform your decision on who to choose for the job? Why not engage those who look affordable and reliable enough and just make sure not to pay them until the job is completed to your satisfaction? This should make the issue of nationality irrelevant assuming that you can communicate your wishes to the workers?
 
who came in with the lowest price??
and when asked for a breakdown you might find that the hourly rate for the "foreigner" is less than the Irish guy.
you take a chance no matter what. you will prob find that the foreign guy will get it done at half the price and time because he has to overcome obstacles like racism where the irish guy does not.
 
My mother had some building work done last year and used an Irish contractor. The crew he supplied were all from Eastern Europe and did work that would put anyone to shame.

They were punctual, respectful, cleaned up as they worked and did the work to a high quality. My reading of the first post is that the domestic trademen are worried.
 
You can choose to do whats more cost efficient to yourself or go with your conscience and choose the locals if thats whats on your mind.
Dont worry about the 'Irish fellas' who wouldnt lose any sleep in robbing you.???

Most tradesmen have been robbing Irish people blind for years so its their own fault that people hire the cheaper labour. Unfortunately it leads to this 'race to the bottom' that the opposition keep talking about.
People loved the Celtic Tiger when it was providing excess for themselves but now that their incomes are being depleted by foreign labour they'd rather go back to the way it was.
Unfortunatley for most people dont seem to see past the end of their noses.

Thats Capitalism for you!
 
I had an emergency call out to a leaking pipe in my house a few weeks and rang round a number of plumbers (on a Sunday). The only response I got was from a Eastern European guy (albeit working for an Irish company) who was there within the two hours promised, fixed the problem quickly, replasted the following day and left the place spotless!

Sarah
 
If the price difference isn't that much I'd go with a local painter (irrespective of nationality) as a lot of their work comes from word of mouth and they won't want to get a bad name in their area. In fact these days there's probably plenty of people you know who've used painters recently and should be able to let you know who is worth getting for cost and quality. Trusted recommendations are far better than yellow pages, AAM advice, or any other source.
 
The painter who had the foreign worker came in cheapest and will also supply the paint which is a good brand. I suppose the point i was trying to make is that a lot of the irish lads seem to try and scare people out of employing foreigners by slating their workmanship.

Living in a rural area i believe that there is a greater fear of foreigners due to the fact that you rarely have any in your community as they are more likely to live in towns etc.

As for recommendations from AMM users i was more interested in finding out had they had the same experience or did they find work to be of lower standard as i do feel that the local irish lads are now beging to feel the pinch of competition.
 
The nationality of the tradespeople is a moot point in my opinion (with the caveat that I mentioned above about being able to communicate one's needs to them). What is relevant is getting somebody the job for a reasonable price (different things to different people) and to an acceptable level of quality (ditto). Anecdotal comparative experience of individuals with Irish and "foreign" tradespeople serves no useful purpose in my opinion. I'm sure that we have all had good and bad experiences (in terms of price and quality of work) with just Irish tradespeople. I'd imagine the same goes for others regardless of nationality. Trying to draw conclusions from or correlations with nationality is meaningless as far as I can see.
 
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