Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

There should be a cap on the number of patients that a GP can have on their books… absolutely nothing approaching ethical that a patient should be waiting weeks to see a GP… yet here we are, putting additional pressure on them , the system and potentially compromising the health of patients by increasing workloads and demands on their time.

the ‘average’ patient number nationally per GP is around 900, that’s per GP, not per practice. In fact this is older info but my research tells me it’s analysis by the Irish Patients Association (IPA) that showed that the average number of public patients for Irish GPs nationally is around 900, might be more now. Should be more now…. So fûck…

I might see my GP once, twice tops a year…. But older people and those with multiple ailments/illness and it’s more frequent, monthly perhaps or every two months.

It’s an ageing population, it’s a rapidly expanding population….

a zero refugee policy if legally enforceable will be necessary but maybe not legal.

Or just not people who want to work?

Frustrates me immensely that all the talk is about accommodation, it should be about reducing processing time and deporting.

Average time to process, average number of appeals and staff working in the area should all be reported on metrics, instead it is a focus on one particular part of a problem

And it’s skewed towards the younger age group. For example what was the increase in the under 30s population last year?

Everything on the news is Asylum seekers today.

Last night on a show on Virgin they interviewed some people staying at the tent camp in Dublin. Lucas made an appearance,again. A Brazilian guy claiming asylum. He said he can't wait to work.

The thing is alot of these people are economic migrants using the asylum system as a way to get into the system.

No way should a Brazilian be claiming asylum. It must be cheaper to go this route than the work/visa route.

No proof then? A genuine apology would have been nice. You got it completely wrong and now you're trying to worm out of it by blaming me. First labelling and then asking me to leave the forum. Respect 😉

I completely agree that the government and EU need a plan. Our government is woeful at making realistic plans but they need a plan and a long term policy because the problem is going to get a whole lot worse in the coming years.

Dun Laoighre is not all posh well heeled residents with influence. I lived and worked there awhile and unless it's changed dramatically, there is a substantial amount of old council housing and people living on welfare etc. I hear the local politicians are all in chorus saying no problems etc. Will be interesting to see what really happens. In fairness, this area can absorb a load of new immigrants without being hugely noticeable. Unlike sticking them in a rural area with a handful of houses about.

I know it well myself. It's a busy area full of all walks of life. I doubt anyone is going to give a bollocks about a few new people in the community, it'll hardly be noticed. I guess we'll see wont we.

Remarkable how attitudes have changed over the past few weeks and months.

This story from the Journal today is a stark illustration of this.

The Journal is, shall we say, quite sympathetic to the views of government, especially FG. i won't say they are a FG mouthpiece, but they certainly don't disagree with them on much. Their editorial policy is very much pro-refugee, to put it mildly. A story like the above would, if published a year ago, have elicited almost exclusively positive comments, even if the Journal staff had to "help it along" a little. Today that story has elicited almost 100% anti-government commentary, and no amount of comment deletion can change that.

The worm has turned.

Well the thread is calling for a zero refugee approach.

I can see an argument for a reduced limit but I think politically it would have to come with an admission of failure on housing and health and credible plans to fix. That ain't gonna happen.

As much as I dislike Meehole and The Leak in this case I don't think it's entirely about them being seen as international good guys.

I think as a country that trades the way we do, low tax, heavily depended on foreign workers and investment we have to be seen as doing our bit for the Ukrainian cause.

I absolutely agree that a lot of people haven't benefited from our economic growth. We've become a very divided country of haves and have nots and a lot of hardworking people are struggling.

I worked for a while for a fairly large foreign company that had set up in a smallish town. Company brought in a lot of skilled foreign workers, property prices and rent soared and I'd say some increase in dr waiting times etc. Very little direct benefit for that small town with most of the tax benefit going back to the exchequer.

The problem, as I see it, is what happens with the money from there. It's not going back to that town in terms of housing or services.

As I see it we have massive waste in this country. Very little to show for all the taxes flowing in from that foreign investment.

But it looks like we're tied to that model. With it comes a responsibility on refugees, Ukraine etc. If our services haven't expanded enough or weren't there in the first place it's not on them, and blaming them only takes the spotlight off the real problem ie our inept government that seems capable only of throwing wads of cash at private-market 'solutions'.

Exactly. It appears they now have little choice but to leave the comments open, as they would have no comments on any story otherwise.