AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
Emigration is in our genes. Since 1800 around 10 million people have left Ireland. But once upon a time, people left largely because, without work or hope, they had to. Now leaving is likely to be a choice. Around 65,000 to 69,000 leave Ireland each year, but only half of these are Irish citizens according to the CSO, with graduates more likely to leave than others.
So what is the current fuss about? It’s because the people who want to leave are the very people we need here. These are doctors, teachers, builders and others whose departures have left us short of essential professions. So what can be done to stop them leaving and what can we do to attract them back?
Tricky questions! Young people are inclined to go off to broaden their horizons, often with the intention of returning and why shouldn’t they? That’s a pull to leave. But what if it’s a push to go because they are unhappy with the situation here?
It was US political strategist James Carville who first said: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Maybe, in this case, it’s the conditions, stupid! Added together, the massive stumbling block of the housing crisis, the cost of living and childcare diminish expectations for a decent life here. Add adverse working conditions and you have plenty of push factors for leaving.
Doctors face long hospital hours and concerns about the quality of patient care. Last year, 630 doctors received visas to go and work in Australia. Teachers suffer staff shortages, burnout and paperwork overload. Hundreds have left to work in the Middle East and Australia for better pay and conditions.
Tens of thousands of builders left during the 2008-2012 crash. At one point the workforce went down to 85,000 compared to 240,000 at the peak. Numbers are now about two-thirds of that, but builders are involved in projects other than housing and there are too few apprentices in trades like bricklaying and plastering.
Some of these conditions could be improved given political will and finance – the former seems to be in short supply if the latter isn’t. It seems counter-intuitive to bring people back to Ireland when we can’t provide enough homes, and the housing target for this year has already been lowered to 35,000.
In many ways we have a lot to be thankful for; a democratic society, near full employment and a temperate climate. Recently though, the population has swelled by a million between 2006 and 2022, and housing and infrastructure simply haven’t kept up with that growth, swelled by returning Irish, EU nationals, those from the UK and the rest of the world. We are used to shedding people, not gaining them.
Now the Government is offering a few carrots to get people to stay or return. An offer to doctors for a State-backed loan to cover fees for graduate-level doctors on condition they continue to work here for a period is being considered. Allowing back garden cabins and the possible relaxation of planning laws to allow people to build stand-alone homes in the areas they are from or on family land are other ideas.
But who is going to build the houses and what about the lack of schools? Allowances for teachers living in cities have also been mooted, or we could try other incentives like tax breaks.
These sticking-plaster remedies may help a bit. But maybe the problem goes deeper and it has to do with life satisfaction. Since the World Values Survey began in 1995, happiness has become a popular topic for debate and for studies. Findings agree that there are two key factors in life satisfaction: one is the sense of being in control of your own life, the other is being valued for what you do.
Those factors are hard to satisfy if you can’t put a roof over your head and start a family and poor working conditions give a sense that you are not valued.
Cash incentives have been mentioned as a way to encourage returners but as the aforementioned surveys have found, money doesn’t equate with happiness.
We need more houses. How about Niall Mellon-style volunteers to build temporary homes for guest builders?
Or a mum and dad army to come out of retirement and sort things. They won’t want to lose their future grandchildren.
