The President has stated that the incoming European Commission has to reconsider how it handles mass migration, reports Breaking News.
According to Michael D. Higgins, it is “common sense” that migrant workers are essential to the operation of the Irish health system.
The President continued, pointing to the emigration history of his own family and saying, “We should be able to have a sensitivity (to migration),” reports Breaking News.
When asked what role Ireland could play in addressing global mass migration, he responded that efforts should start with food security, then progress to possibilities for education, and finally, issues like gender equality.
Mr. Higgins, a Manchester University graduate student studying migration theory, continued, “But when Europeans talk about migration, they are talking about the destination point only.”
Understanding the causes of migration might help one handle it in a constructive way, according to the 83-year-old.
Mr Higgins said: “What I find quite shocking about it is this raises questions that – now that we’re electing a new EU Commission they surely must reflect on – is of what kind of Europe do they speak? Is it a Europe that is just going to shift its focus to armament production? Going to massively expand defence expenditure? Increase barriers to people coming in? I think common sense should teach us Irish very practical things. We wouldn’t be able to run the health service we have in Ireland today without the people who have come and enabled it to function. I have been in hospital myself but anyone who knows that when they’re there being cared for how much we owe to the people who are interested in providing care. That’s just how it is,” reports Breaking News.
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