Sociologist says countries with Irish immigrants should be taxed

As reported by the Irish Times, nations which benefit from Irish immigration should pay special taxes to Ireland in return, says sociologist Fr Micheál Mac Gréil SJ.

The sociologist/Jesuit priest addressed the yearly St Patrick’s Day pilgrimage event on Máméan, arguing that current emigration was a sign of a free flow of labour which had tuned into an “international scandal”.

Weaker nations like Ireland would experience development stagnation while stronger countries would benefit from the “push-pull” factor attracting youth to stronger economies, he said.

Fr Mac Gréil said the “push” was the crisis in Ireland, while the “pull” was the opportunity overseas, citing an Irish Times survey from Saturday. The survey on emigration showed 59% of emigrants emigrated by choice, while 41% said it was by force.

Former sociology professor at NUI Maynooth, Fr Mac Gréil said young people should not be blamed for leaving, either by circumstance or by choice, adding that many were “great ambassadors” for the country.

However, he argued, it is still a “great loss” for Ireland, since Ireland would be better off if there were more creativity in the country rather than a mass exodus. Fr Mac Gréil stressed that he did not support a “centralist socialism” which could curtail freedom of movement, since this would punish individuals for globalisation trends, he argued.

Ireland pays on average €85,000 to educate its citizens to third-level, said Fr Mac Gréil. It is time for host countries to pay a tax for the benefits they are accruing, he argued.