Is emigration a safety valve?

Watching last nights primetime programme ,it struck me that our politicians are quite happy to see our unemployed leave.
I remember in the 80s when the politicians of the day were openly encouraging emigration...but at least there were jobs in the U.K. then and also in the U.S. even without work visas.
In fairness Billy Kelleher said all the right things...I guess the questions are known beforehand and the answers carefully prepared.
I don`t think emigration is a viable option for our emigrants unless they have guaranteed jobs in their chosen profession and everything is completely legal. The nurses in the programme are lucky in that it is one of the few professions where people are needed.
Going to work in the U.S. without a work visa is an absolute no no.
Our government should make clear all the dangers and pitfalls of emigration.
Most ordinary jobs in the U.K. pay the minimum wage or slightly above.
Irish emigrants ,even highly educated ones have no god given right to get paid more or work less hard than the thousand of other workers competing for the same jobs. In many cases people will have to take jobs that are below their qualifications and thus low wages.
Which brings me to the next point.People on this forum are often asking what is the point of working when a person might get almost as much on welfare. Well then what is the point of emigrating when your wages will be less than the welfare here......well no point really.
Billy had a point when he said if the public servants weren`t so selfish and took their pay cuts then we could employ more of them.I somehow don`t think the public sector unions will be insisting on this link in any negotiations.
There will always be people who want to emigrate to experience a different lifestyle and thats fine, but I`d imagine for most people contemplating emigration...they would probably be better off staying in ireland.

No right thinking Government should encourage emigration, but the short term benefits end up painting the government in a nice light. Latvia has benefitted greatly from huge emigration and its figures and performance do look good.

Look at what happened the last time. It wasn't just the unwashed masses, it was graduates who were unemployed. So we invest money in educating people and then don't see a return on that investment. We miss out on all the good stuff and taxes they would pay.

But they do come back just when they're towards retirement, they return to live out the rest of their lives in the homeland. So we have to pay for that.

Latrade said:

No right thinking Government should encourage emigration, but the short term benefits end up painting the government in a nice light. Latvia has benefitted greatly from huge emigration and its figures and performance do look good.

Look at what happened the last time. It wasn't just the unwashed masses, it was graduates who were unemployed. So we invest money in educating people and then don't see a return on that investment. We miss out on all the good stuff and taxes they would pay.

But they do come back just when they're towards retirement, they return to live out the rest of their lives in the homeland. So we have to pay for that.

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Good point. Governments love short term solutions because they operate in the short term. Emigration for them is great in the short term. People won't protest about it. More and more people leave, and the unemployment figures come down. It makes them look good. But long term it's a disaster. Often the people that emigrate are the people a country needs most, and the country is poorer for the loss of them.

I'd also say it's an argument for university fees. If, as indicated, more and more graduates plan to emigrate, why should the state pick up the tab of educating them when we don't get to see the benefit?

1. Emigration is a tragedy for the people involved
2. There never were any jobs in Balygar Co. Galway or Leitrim, only in the boom!!!! You can't cry about your kids leaving home if you don't live in a center of employment.
3. A person working all their lives in the UK is entitled to a UK pension.
4. Making people pay uni fees will get them into debt and make them more likely to leave! govt still heavily subsidies universities even when students pay fees.

As the whole western world has high unemployment and Ireland has one of the best welfare rates in the world,it doesn`t make much sense for any irish citizen to emigrate unless they have a guranteed job paying at least the equivalent of 400euros a week.I am very worried for our young unemployed who after degees or training now find that they are the ones taking the biggest hit in that with public sector embargoes and private sector tightening....they will find very little oppurtunity for work.They have no militant unions to fight for them.....indeed the unions will in fiercely protecting their members will make it more difficult for them in opposing part time work or job sharing. The government of course will just pay them lip service and ignore them.
What then will all these unemployed youth do...especially as the dole is likely to be cut over the next few budgets?No doubt some scheme will be thought up housing them in the unsold houses around the towns and cities but there will be a lot of social problems down the line.